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" At any medical office, the receptionist controls it all: the books, the phones and who gets an appointment. So it&amp;#039;s in your favor to get on his or her good side. From filling out your paperwork in advance to asking the right questions, here are helpful tips for making nice with your doctor&amp;#039;s front desk staff.   1. Filing paperwork in advance for a first-time appointment helps everyone.  Though it doesn&amp;#039;t necessarily ensure more face time with your doctor, taking care of new patient paperwork before you get to the office\u2014whether through electronic medical records (EMR) or by fax\u2014is a better use of everyone&amp;#039;s time. &amp;quot;Most medical offices are switching over to EMR,&amp;quot; says Wendy Winstead, an office manager for Nicholas Nikolov, MD, a California-based plastic surgeon. &amp;quot;When you call and make an appointment, ask if it&amp;#039;s an option; if so, they&amp;#039;ll give you a code that you can use to log in and file.&amp;quot; Once completed, you&amp;#039;ll only have to sign a few consent forms when you arrive at the office, which means that if the doctor is running ahead of schedule, he might be able to see you immediately. Submitting your paperwork electronically or via fax also saves the receptionist from having to type up your information, so you&amp;#039;re making her day easier, which she&amp;#039;ll likely remember. If filing ahead is not an option, however, just be sure to show up to your first appointment 15 minutes early so paperwork doesn&amp;#039;t take away from your time with the doctor.   2. It&amp;#039;s my job to NOT\u00A0put your call through.  Yes, you&amp;#039;re being screened. Unless you call in with an emergency, most receptionists will have the doctor call you back. If that&amp;#039;s the case, don&amp;#039;t leave things open-ended; get specific about your availability.The receptionists we spoke with recommend saying something like, &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m only free between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.\u2014can he call me during that time?&amp;quot; Like anybody with a list of to-dos, doctors respond to limitations and deadlines when they&amp;#039;re prioritizing. If the doctor is digital-savvy, consider asking the receptionist to email him on your behalf (and copy you)\u2014it may help elicit a prompter response.   3. There are a few ways to find out what your wait time really is. It&amp;#039;s not that receptionists intentionally lie about wait time, but there&amp;#039;s a reason doctors tell them to keep things under wraps. Based on the flow of patients\u2014and how long each appointment will take\u2014Winstead says a receptionist might shuffle around the order of appointments. &amp;quot;If someone&amp;#039;s going to be in and out, we try to do them the courtesy of pushing them ahead of a longer appointment,&amp;quot; she says. To get a clearer picture of where you are in line, Winstead recommends asking the receptionist on the sly, in whispered tones. And remember: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s all in your tone. If you&amp;#039;re more understanding, we&amp;#039;re more understanding,&amp;quot; she adds. If you feel uncomfortable asking about the wait directly, Winstead suggests asking if you have time to grab a quick cup of coffee. You&amp;#039;ll get a pretty clear idea of your wait time depending on her answer.   4. We appreciate honesty.  Winstead recalls a particular patient, who called the office two days before a wedding to request &amp;quot;emergency&amp;quot; Botox. &amp;quot;First of all, Botox is not an emergency\u2014it takes several days to kick in. Second of all, people know about weddings well in advance\u2014so why call two days before the event?&amp;quot; Winstead says she would have been much more likely to help the patient if she had called and admitted that she had &amp;quot;completely spaced&amp;quot; about the wedding and would appreciate being squeezed in. Botox or otherwise, if you let a receptionist know about your situation, and are OK with a short visit, they&amp;#039;ll likely appreciate your honesty and try to help you.   5. You have a better chance of getting what you want in the morning.  If you&amp;#039;re trying to reach the doctor by phone, call early. &amp;quot;In the morning, all the receptionists are there to answer the phones as opposed to mid-day, when half will be on lunch,&amp;quot; says Winstead. The same goes for scheduling: If your goal is to be seen quickly, make sure you have one of the first slots of the day. &amp;quot;There will be less wait time, since the doctor won&amp;#039;t be running late from other patients ahead of you,&amp;quot; says Winstead. When booking an appointment, it&amp;#039;s also wise to ask the receptionist what other types of appointments the doctor has before yours. &amp;quot;Generally, new-patient consultations take the longest, so try to schedule away from those if you&amp;#039;re worried about delays,&amp;quot; Winstead adds.   6. You can work the wait list.  If there is a long wait to get an appointment, ask to be put on a waiting list\u2014but don&amp;#039;t wait for the office to call you. &amp;quot;Call them every day,&amp;quot; says Shannon Clark, a receptionist for a physical therapy clinic in New York City. &amp;quot;When the receptionist realizes you aren&amp;#039;t going to stop calling until your needs are met, she is likely to find a place for you.&amp;quot; Winstead adds, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s always best to greet the receptionist by name.&amp;quot; It will help you befriend her, and will also deter her from being rude to you.Whatever you do, &amp;quot;don&amp;#039;t leave a message\u2014that&amp;#039;s more work for her,&amp;quot; Winstead says. Instead, she suggests calling back until you can get someone on the phone.   7. Receptionists appreciate holiday gifts.  If your goal is to be able to make last-minute appointments at a busy office, bring in holiday treats for the people that work the books, not just the doctor. Winstead says that doctors rarely share gifts with the receptionists. It&amp;#039;s not a bribe, per se, but a way to help the receptionists remember who you are, Winstead explains. She adds that people who bring in treats also tend to be easier patients, which makes receptionists feel more comfortable about squeezing them in.   8. Certain times of the month and year are always busier than others. It pays to know when your doctor&amp;#039;s office is busiest\u2014for example, ob-gyns often get an influx of calls and last-minute appointments at the end of a month when birth control prescriptions tend to run out. And, in general, most medical offices pick up towards the end of the year, around November and December, since insurance deductibles reset on January 1. Always ask your receptionist when it&amp;#039;s best to call if you need to book an appointment during one of the busy periods. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/womens-health/a6001/8-inside-secrets-from-medical-receptionists-124694/>