– The first phone call, the changing front desk, and the people helping patients find their way through a medical visit. –
People, trends, and ideas shaping allied healthcare.
From NPS
Last month, we looked at cardiac care and the people working behind the monitors. This month, we’re moving to a different part of the practice: the front desk.
For a patient, that may be where a visit starts to feel manageable—or where the questions begin to pile up. We’ll look at how scheduling and communication shape those first encounters, then explore what happens as more of the experience moves online.
Certified Medical Administrative Assistants work in the middle of those changes. Their day may involve schedules, records, and office systems, but the next person on the phone still needs someone to listen.
Industry Pulse
The Visit Starts Before the Exam Room
An appointment can take a few seconds to enter on a calendar. Getting there can take considerably more planning.
Imagine a patient trying to arrange a visit during a lunch break. They need a time that fits around work, want to know which paperwork to bring, and have a question about insurance. They haven’t met the provider yet. They already have several things to sort out.
The person answering the phone can help make that process clearer. Explain the arrival instructions. Confirm the location. Find the right contact for a question that needs more attention.
For someone who does this work every day, those exchanges may feel routine. For the person calling, they may be the first impression of the practice.
That part of the experience is measured, too. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey asks whether receptionists and clerks were helpful and whether they treated patients with courtesy and respect. The people welcoming patients are part of how patients experience a medical practice.
A Small Change Before the Visit
The work that happens before an appointment can also affect whether it takes place.
At Kaiser Permanente Washington, researchers tested an additional text reminder for appointments predicted to have a high risk of no-shows. One group received a reminder two business days before the visit. The other received reminders three and two business days beforehand.
Among primary-care appointments, the no-show rate was 9.1% with one reminder and 8.4% with two. For mental-health appointments, the rates were 20.1% and 17.9%, respectively.
The study was published in 2022 using appointments from 2019. It examined a targeted reminder strategy in one health system, so the results should not be treated as a prediction for every practice.
Still, it offers a concrete example of something easy to overlook: a change made before the patient arrives can make a measurable difference.
Making the Next Step Clear
A reminder can put an appointment back on someone’s radar. A conversation gives them somewhere to go with a question.
Perhaps the patient can no longer make that time. Perhaps they have read the instructions and are still unsure what to bring. An administrative team member may be the person who helps resolve the confusion or connects them with someone who can.
That is where organization and communication meet. The schedule needs accurate information, and the patient needs to understand what happens next.
For educators, it is a useful way to frame the role. Learning to enter an appointment matters. So does learning to explain it to someone who is worried, distracted, or unfamiliar with the office.
By the time a patient reaches the exam room, several people may already have helped the visit happen. The first voice they heard deserves some attention.
In Practice
The Front Desk Is Going Digital. Patients Still Need a Person.
“It’s in your portal” sounds like a complete answer.
For a patient who cannot sign in, it is the beginning of another question.
Consider someone opening an online form, getting stuck at the login screen, and calling the office for help. The task has moved online. The uncertainty has arrived at the front desk.
Patient portals have become a substantial part of how people interact with healthcare. A federal report published in July 2025 found that 77% of individuals nationwide were offered online access to their medical records in 2024. Sixty-five percent were both offered access and used it, up from 25% in 2014.
Those figures describe individuals nationally, rather than only people who already use a portal. They show how much online access has grown. They do not tell us whether every person who signs in finds the process easy.
An Account Is Only the Beginning
The same report found that 59% of individuals had multiple online medical records or patient portals in 2024.
For someone seeing providers in different organizations, that can mean keeping track of more than one place to look. A patient may know how to use a portal and still be unsure which account contains the information they need.
Another person may be helping a parent manage appointments and need to understand the office’s process for authorized caregiver access. Someone else may simply need a confusing instruction explained in everyday language.
These are practical situations for medical administrative teams. They call for familiarity with office systems, patience with questions, and an understanding of when to bring in someone else.
Helping a patient find a result, for example, is a different responsibility from explaining its clinical meaning. Knowing where to direct that second question is part of helping well.
Preparing for the Conversation
For future CMAAs, digital confidence should include the ability to guide another person through a process.
That might mean explaining where to request login support or walking through the steps for an administrative form. It also means recognizing when an explanation has not landed and trying again without making the patient feel embarrassed.
Educators can give students opportunities to practice those conversations alongside the software. What would they say to someone who has never used the system? How would they respond when a patient becomes frustrated? Where would they turn when the problem goes beyond their access or responsibilities?
The tools will continue to change. A useful habit can travel with the learner: make sure the person knows what to do next.
This Month at NPS
Bring CMAA Certification to Your Students
For schools and organizations preparing students for medical administrative roles, Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) certification is one option to explore.
If your organization is considering CMAA certification for an existing program or a new pathway, NPS can help you review certification requirements and options for your group. Your organization remains responsible for education and preparation; NPS provides the certification and examination process. Candidates must meet current NPS eligibility requirements for the CMAA certification program.
Organizations that manage certification across groups can also review NPS Group Management. Instructors and organizations comparing group-access options can review Instructor Group Rates and Organization Plans & Pricing.
Thank you to the educators and administrative professionals helping patients through those first steps.
See you in December.
