Receptionist Objectives: The purpose of this position is to serve as receptionist at Crooked Tails Veterinary Clinic, to perform record keeping duties, clerical duties related to patient care and treatment and to provide miscellaneous support to the office manager and health care team. These service functions include, but are not limited to, reception (visitor and phone), maintenance of veterinary medical records, accounts maintenance, payment processing, data entry and mail service. This position requires a practical knowledge of hospital organization and services, as well as basic rules and regulations governing animal patient treatment. Regular attendance and timeliness are essential in fulfilling the requirements of this position. 

Position type and expected hours of work: 

• Mainly part-time with occasional full-time work
• Overtime may be required on rare occasions. 

• Education and Experience
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Veterinary experience preferred

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Clerical

• Schedule appointments, obtaining all necessary data concerning the patient and owner. 
• Completing required forms, such as patient visit form and consent forms, and entering all information into the computer accurately.
• Assure that all financial obligations are met by owners. Collect client fees, make change, process credit card transactions, record payments and run end of day transaction reports. 
• Prepare and mail client reminders and cards.
• Receive, sort and distribute mail; send and receive faxes; send and receive emails.
• Ensure the cleanliness and organization of the reception area. Clean and straighten the public areas of the practice, including the waiting area, exam rooms and front porch.
• Open and close down the front lobby area.

Customer and Personal Service

• Provide friendly and quality care to the patients and clients of Crooked Tails Veterinary Clinic.
• Requires strong communication and client service skills. Considerable tact and diplomacy is required. Ability to greet clients in a professional, friendly, hospitable manner.
• Check clients in on the computer system in a timely manner and with accuracy. Determine the nature of the visit and input any pertinent charges. 
• Professionally administer all phone calls - answering client inquiries in a prompt and friendly manner, scheduling appointments, recording messages. 
• When receiving incoming calls, screen those that are taken care of by the health care team members and take care of routine calls. The routine calls include those seeking information about veterinary services (telephone shoppers). Provide knowledgeable, sub-professional, advice concerning the care and treatment of animals. 
• Reassuring distressed pet owners.

Veterinary Policies/Procedures

• Follow established hospital policies in referring clients for immediate treatment of their pets when requests are accompanied by complaints of acute symptoms. Determine nature of injury/illness. 
• Determine whether immunizations are current and recommend updating when applicable. 
• Discharge patients when applicable, presenting clients with medications and instructions. Make follow-up appointments when necessary. 
• Perform over-the-counter selling of veterinary pet products. Exercise knowledge of products sold and be able to answer questions concerning their purchase and use. 
• Fill veterinary prescriptions with appropriate medication and provide routine instructions to owners concerning the prescriptions. 
• Collect lab specimens from owners, record testing in patient chart and bill out for testing. Submit samples to veterinary technician or assistant. 
• Requesting patient medical records from other hospitals and fulfilling requests from other hospitals for medical records. 
• Preparing exam rooms as necessary prior to transferring clients and patients into them.

Computer

Our veterinary medical records and financial records are almost entirely computer-based. An in depth knowledge of the practice management software is essential to performing many daily functions. The practice management software includes, but it not limited to, client information, patient information and medical records, client financial records, reminder list for upcoming vaccine updates, end of day financial balancing. Our scheduling system is also computer-based. 

COMPETENCY

Basic Skills

• Possession of strong organizational skills
• Knowledge of spelling and meaning of commonly used terminology of veterinary medicine.
• Knowledge of hospital procedures for making appointments, recording test results, relaying information regarding patient’s condition
• Ability to multi-task. 
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Accuracy is critical in all aspects of the job.

Communication Skills

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills. Possess exceptional interpersonal communication skills. 
• Requires strong client services skills. Personal contacts are with pet owners affected by a variety of problems who may be under a lot of duress. Considerable tact is required to reassure distressed pet owners.  Must be able to accurately relay owner’s account of the medical complaint(s) of the pet involved to a health care team member. 
• Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar. 
• Requires active listening skills, giving full attention to what other people are saying and the point being made. Asking questions when appropriate and not interrupting when appropriate. 
• Requires telephone conversations
• Requires use of email
• Requires writing messages, occasional letters and memos. 
• Requires face-to-face discussions with individuals and team members.

Social Skills

• Work well with all employees and ensure that your actions support the hospital, the doctors and the practice philosophy. 
• Ability to work independently on assigned tasks as well as to accept direction on given assignments
• Monitoring/assessing performance of yourself in order to make improvements or take corrective action
• Ability to adjust actions in relation to other’s actions.
• Actively looking for ways to help others. 
• Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do. 
• Requires dealing with unpleasant, angry or discourteous people. 

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. 

• Standing and walking - 1/3 to 2/3 of the time
• Sitting - 1/3 to 2/3 of the time
• Stoop, kneel or crouch - less than 5% of the time
• Talk and hear - 100% of the time
• Lifting up to 50 lbs on your own and over 50 lbs with assistance
• Specific vision abilities required for this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust to focus.

Work Environment

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to hazards associated with aggressive patients, infected animals and controlled substances; exposure to unpleasant odors and noises; exposures to bites, scratches and animal wastes; possible exposure to contagious disease. 

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties may change or be assigned at any time. 

Crooked Tails Veterinary Clinic is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy of the practice to prohibit discrimination and harassment of any type and to afford equal employment opportunities to employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, gender identity or expression, or veteran status.

Please respond by email with a resume and cover letter info@crookedtails.com.