Veterinary Receptionist Week, celebrated April 24 – 28, 2023, is the perfect time to show appreciation to the passionate and hardworking Client Service Representatives in veterinary hospitals everywhere. At the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, we include all our public-facing team members in the Clinical Services Department in this celebration. This means we’re recognizing all of our Representatives in Client Services and Client Communications, our Dispensary Technicians, our Lobby Facilitators and our Service Coordinators. At a small clinic, one or two people might fill all these roles; at AMC, we require a large team. Each employee honored this week is a specialist in their own arena, supporting the specialist veterinarians that make up AMC.

Client Service Representatives and Managers

If I had to sum up everything these team members do, it resembles the role of an aircraft marshaller (“the orange stick guys”) – directing people, pets, paperwork and prescriptions to their correct locations. This 24/7 team keeps the clinic running, checking patients in and out and assisting clients with their financial inquiries and community fund applications. They alert the Emergency Room veterinarians to the need for a rapid assessment of emergent patients. Without this team, the waiting area would be total chaos.

Client Communications

If the Client Service Representatives are directing traffic on the ground, the Client Communications Team are in the air traffic control tower. They work remotely to manage the telephone calls and electronic inquiries flooding into AMC. This team assists with medical record and invoice requests, and they schedule appointments.

Dispensary Technicians

When I first came to AMC, I mistakenly thought the Dispensary was an archaic term, a hold-over from our time as the Women’s League for Animals. Not true. By definition, a pharmacy is run by a pharmacist, while a dispensary dispenses medication but not under pharmacist supervision. (This is why marijuana stores are dispensaries not pharmacies.) You’ll meet AMC’s Dispensary Technicians when you call to refill prescription diets or medications for your pet.

Service and Care Coordinators

AMC has a large number of Service Coordinators – 18 to be exact. They provide administrative support to our medical and surgical services. Depending on the schedule and size of the service, a coordinator might work for multiple services or there might be multiple coordinators for one large service. If your pet is a patient of AMC, you are likely to be telephone or email friends with one of our Service Coordinators. They schedule appointments, remind veterinarians to fill prescriptions and contact your neighborhood veterinarian for copies of medical records and diagnostic images.

Lobby Facilitators

The role of the Lobby Facilitator came about during the pandemic. We needed a team of greeters and information providers on the lobby level to help guide clients though the pandemic precautions in place at AMC. Even though the pandemic has eased, this team has become indispensable. Just the other day I saw one of the Lobby Facilitators helping a seeing eye dog and their person into the Access-a-Ride van.

Pet Insurance Specialist

AMC’s newest team member being celebrated this week is our Pet Insurance Specialist. This position is proving very popular with pet families because navigating insurance claims is never easy, and pet insurance is no exception. AMC clients use over 20 different pet insurance providers. The Pet Insurance Specialist handles preapprovals and submits medical record information to support appeals when coverage is denied.

This week we salute these essential members of the AMC team for their role in providing excellent and compassionate care for our companion animal patients. While each team has a unique role within AMC, the teams are united by their ability to greet our patients and clients and providing efficient, courteous service whether the client is on-site or on the phone. All of us at AMC appreciate their hard work and dedication and hope you do too.

If you would like to join this excellent and compassionate team, please visit the careers section of our website.