Clinic receptionist duties. A daily checklist for the OPD desk.

A clinic receptionist registers patients, gives out tokens in order, collects the fee, tells people how long the wait is, hands over the prescription, and closes the day with the cash and UPI tally. In a 1–3 doctor OPD that one person is also the phone, the waiting room and the memory of the clinic. Below: the duties in order, a checklist to print, and where the job ends.

What the front desk does in a day

Opening the desk

The desk opens before the doctor does. Computer and printer on, letterhead and receipt paper checked, the doctor's timing for the day confirmed (late start, half day, a second doctor in the evening), the booked list read. The float cash is counted and written down. If the clinic sends tokens on WhatsApp, the first ones go out now to patients who booked ahead.

Registration by mobile number

At most OPD desks the first question is "number bataiye". The mobile number is the patient's key. Type it, see who comes up, and only then ask for a name. A family often shares one number, so the desk picks the right person or adds a family member under it. A new patient needs four things: number, name, age, sex. The rest can wait for a quieter moment. Typing the name before searching the number is how one patient ends up with two files.

Tokens, walk-ins and follow-ups

Tokens are given in arrival order, and the order is kept. A follow-up patient ("dawa khatam hone pe aana") gets a token like anyone else, but the desk marks the visit as a follow-up so the doctor sees the last prescription and the clinic charges the follow-up fee, if there is one. A booked patient who arrives late joins the queue where it stands. The one exception is a priority case the doctor has agreed in advance: a very old patient, a small child in distress, a post-operative check. Priority is a rule the clinic sets, never a favour the desk does.

Vitals at the desk

Some clinics have the receptionist or attendant take weight, temperature and blood pressure before the patient goes in. The doctor decides what is measured and how. The desk writes the numbers on the parchi or in the system and says nothing about what they mean. A reading that looks far off is taken again and told to the doctor. That is the end of the desk's role in it.

Fee collection by cash, UPI or card

Clinics differ on when the fee is taken: at registration or after the consultation. Either way, every rupee is recorded against the patient the moment it is received, with the mode. Cash goes in the drawer and the receipt is issued. UPI is confirmed on the clinic's phone or QR stand, never on the patient's screen, before the receipt. Card is the slip plus the receipt. A waived or discounted fee is recorded as such, with the doctor's say-so. A mistaken entry is cancelled with a reason and re-entered, never quietly edited.

Telling patients the wait

Patients can bear a long wait if they know it. "Aapse pehle paanch log hain, lagbhag chaalis minute" is enough. Give patients ahead and a rough time, update it when the doctor runs behind, and never promise a slot time you cannot keep. A patient who steps out to the chemist keeps their place if the desk is told: mark them stepped out and call them next when they return.

An emergency walk-in

Someone walks in with chest pain, heavy bleeding, a child who is barely responsive. The desk does not triage and does not decide. It informs the doctor at once, even mid-consultation, and the doctor decides whether to see the patient now or send them to a hospital. The desk keeps the waiting room calm and registers the patient afterwards. Agree this with the doctor before it happens, and know the nearest hospital's number by heart.

Calling the next patient

The desk calls by token number and name, loudly enough for the room: "Token 12, Sharma ji, aage aaiye." One call, a short wait, one more call, then the patient is marked skipped and the next is called. A skipped patient is called next when they appear. Even where the doctor marks the queue from the consultation room, the desk watches the room so nobody is missed.

Printing and handing over the prescription

If the prescription prints at the desk, the receptionist checks the name and date before handing it over and repeats the follow-up date if the doctor has written one. Questions about the medicines go back to the doctor. A clinic copy is filed under the patient's number.

Closing the day

Closing is counting. Cash in the drawer minus the opening float should equal the cash receipts. UPI on the clinic's phone or bank app should equal the UPI receipts; card slips, the card receipts. Any gap is found today, not at month end. Then the follow-ups the doctor asked for are booked, tomorrow's list is checked, and the day book is signed off by whoever the owner has named. The owner gets one line: patients seen, cash, UPI, card, total.

The daily checklist

Print this and keep it at the desk. Tick it on paper for the first month.

Opening

• Computer, printer and internet on; letterhead and receipt paper loaded.
• Doctor's timing for today confirmed.
• Opening float counted and written down.
• Booked list reviewed; tokens sent where the clinic sends them ahead.
• Waiting room checked: chairs, water, fan, token board if there is one.

During the day

• Every patient searched by mobile number before a new file is created.
• Tokens in arrival order; priority only by the clinic's rule.
• Follow-ups marked as follow-ups.
• Every fee recorded when received, with cash, UPI or card noted; UPI confirmed on the clinic's device first.
• Wait told and updated when the doctor runs behind.
• Stepped-out patients marked; skipped patients called next on return.
• Emergency walk-in: doctor informed at once, registration after.
• Prescription name and date checked before handover; follow-up date repeated.
• Missed calls returned before closing.

Closing

• Cash counted; drawer minus float equals cash receipts.
• UPI on the clinic's phone or bank app equals UPI receipts; card slips equal card receipts.
• Any gap written down with a reason and told to the owner today.
• Follow-ups the doctor asked for are booked.
• Tomorrow's list checked; printer loaded.
• One line to the owner: patients seen, cash, UPI, card, total.
• Drawer locked, system logged out.

What a good receptionist is not responsible for

The boundary matters as much as the duties. A receptionist does not answer clinical questions, even small ones ("ye tablet khaali pet leni hai?"). The answer is "doctor se pooch lete hain". A receptionist does not write, change or repeat a prescription, does not hand one out for a patient the doctor has not seen that day, and does not advise on which medicine to buy. A receptionist does not decide who is an emergency, and does not give one patient's details to another person on the phone, however convincingly they ask.

A request for old records or a copy of the file is logged with the date and passed to the doctor the same day. The Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, regulation 1.3.2, say a records request from a patient or authorised attendant is acknowledged and the documents issued within 72 hours. The desk's part is the acknowledgement and the date; what is issued is the doctor's call.

Common mistakes at the desk

• Two registrations for one patient. Usually from typing a name before searching the number. The doctor then sees half a history.
• Unrecorded cash. A fee taken in a rush and "entered later" is the one never entered.
• UPI taken on trust. The patient shows a "payment successful" screen; the clinic's phone never rings. Confirm on the clinic's side.
• Tokens out of order. A relative, a known face, a patient who argues. Once the room sees it happen, every wait becomes a negotiation.
• Promising a clock time. "Aadhe ghante mein ho jayega" to a patient fourteenth in line. Give patients ahead instead.
• Follow-ups not marked. The patient is charged a full fee again, or the doctor cannot see the last prescription.
• Closing skipped on a busy day. The busy day is the one with the gap.
• Answering medical questions. It feels helpful; it is the one thing the desk must not do.

How to brief a new hire in the first week

1. Day one: sit beside them. They watch you run the desk in the morning and run it after lunch with you next to them. Give them the printed checklist.
2. Day two: registration only. Every patient searched by number first. You check each new file they created at closing.
3. Day three: fees. They collect and record, you count with them at closing. Show them a voided entry and why it is never edited.
4. Day four: the queue. Tokens, calling, stepped out, skipped. Walk through the emergency rule and the priority rule with the doctor present.
5. Day five: the boundary. Go through the "not responsible for" list and role-play the tablet question, the records request and the queue-jumper.
6. End of week: they close the day alone and you check the tally. If it matches, they are running the desk.

Where Vitels fits

Vitels registers patients by mobile number, runs the token queue with tokens sent on WhatsApp and SMS, and records cash, UPI and card at the desk, with the queue and billing working when the internet drops. See clinic billing for receipts and the day book, and the free prescription format tool if you still print from a template.