Degree of management: Finding the fit for top staff

Often the terms "office manager" and "practice administrator" are used to describe the same person -- but the two jobs are very different. Here is a breakdown on the responsibilities of each position.

By Larry Stevens, AMNews correspondent. Aug. 20, 2007.

Unless you're a solo doctor with a very small staff, you probably have someone assigned to be in charge of your office. That person might be called the office manager. Or the practice administrator. Or both.

But while these terms often are used interchangeably, the positions are very different.

The easiest breakdown between the two comes from Alice Anne Andress, director of physician services at Parente Randolph, a management consulting firm in Doylestown, Pa. "The administrator and office manager represent two different levels of governance," she said. "The first is responsible for more long-term strategic issues, and the latter the day-to-day running of the office."

A practice administrator, whose pay often equals that of a new primary care physician, is responsible for things such as marketing, helping doctors make decisions on consolidation and expansion, and implementing new technologies. Typically he or she would have a bachelor's degree, often an advanced degree, and almost always have extensive experience in health care.

An office manager, who is typically paid about 20% to 30% more than front or backroom staff with similar years of experience, makes sure that staff arrive on time; handles patient, vendor and staff concerns; and might fill in for people who are on vacation or out sick. An office manager also might be a bookkeeper and coder. But if a practice decides to farm out the coding and bookkeeping functions, the office manager can be hired with little office experience in non-medical businesses, although most experts say that is not ideal.