An allied health virtual assistant for bookings, recalls and billing

A well-run clinic depends on the work around each consultation: bookings, recalls, referrals and payments. When practitioners or a single front-desk person carry all of it, calls go unanswered and cancellations become empty slots. A defined admin role can take on those routines without adding clinical responsibility. Start with appointment volumes, phone cover and the back-office tasks that take the most time. Then set clear limits for patient information, billing approvals and enquiries that need a clinician.

Practice admin outsourcing, appointment by appointment

Before the appointment. A medical receptionist answers calls and messages, books new patients, manages approved booking changes and practitioner calendars in Cliniko, Halaxy or Splose, and fills cancellations from the waitlist.

Referrals and paperwork. They log incoming referrals and care plans, request missing administrative details from referrers, and send intake forms so the practitioner starts with a complete file.

After the appointment. They send recall and reminder messages in your approved wording, follow up patients who haven’t rebooked, and keep handover notes current.

Billing. An admin assistant prepares invoices and supporting information, tracks outstanding accounts, and follows up payment or claim queries for your review, whether they involve Medicare, a health fund, the NDIS, workers’ compensation or the patient.

Practice admin. They maintain templates, supplier records, staff rosters and reporting within the permissions you set.

What stays with your practitioners

Everything clinical stays onshore. Triage, treatment advice, clinical notes, assessment and any conversation about a patient’s condition remain with your practitioners. The admin hire books, records, reminds and prepares. They route clinical or sensitive enquiries straight to the right person, following escalation rules you write into the role brief. Tarino doesn’t give clinical, legal or compliance advice.

How we screen medical receptionists

Reception is judged on the phone and in writing, so the practical assessment tests both. For this role it could include a booking scenario with a cancellation to fill and a written reply to a patient enquiry, so you can judge tone and accuracy. A pool of 1,000+ candidates is narrowed by CV screening to about 400 and by a video screen to about 200 before that task. About 50 reach the structured interview and 20 the finalist review, and you meet the best 3–4, usually within about 2 weeks. See what each screening stage checks. More than 95% of Tarino placements are still in the role 6 months after they start.

Patient records and your logins

Your hire works in your practice management software under a named account you create. Most clinic systems support role-based permissions, so you can give access to bookings and billing without clinical notes. Require multi-factor authentication and remove access when they leave. Health information is sensitive under the Privacy Act, and you remain responsible for it, including the rules on sending personal information overseas. Check your obligations with your professional body or adviser. For set-up steps, see the offshore staff security checklist.

A front desk without a monthly fee

A managed agency charges for your receptionist every month. Staff Domain’s published Scale rate is A$1,099 per person per month, about A$13,188 a year, plus A$1,200 per hire (checked October 2026). With Tarino you pay one recruitment fee per hire and nothing monthly, and your receptionist keeps their full salary because you pay them directly. Run your clinic’s numbers in the offshore staff cost calculator, and plan phone cover around Philippines public holidays in 2026.

Before the search, write down the hours your phone must be answered and the five enquiries that come in most often. Those two lists become the core of the brief.