The receptionist is the first person that a patient encounters at the doctor''s office. She checks in patients and begins the process of caring for the patient. She depends on mathematics to complete her job.
First, the receptionist spends a large amount of her day on the telephone. She answers calls and makes calls that could not be placed without the numbers. So, one of her main duties is completely driven by number patterns.
Second, the receptionist must take in and transcribe information. Most of this information has something to do with numbers. An address, a zip code, a phone number, a socail security number, an insurance policy all use numbers to identify each specific patient. One error or omission can prevent the patient from receiving the best quality of care possible.
Third, the receptionist helps to schedule patients. Scheduling patients is a giant work problem. The doctor's can only see a certain amount of patients in an hour. So, she must make sure that each hour has the appropriate amount of patients. This does not sound like it should be difficult, but it is. Most people would think that the patients are scheduled on a fixed interval maybe every 10 to 15 minutes. The problem is that every one does not have the same illness and need the same treatment. So, a fixed interval does not work. Especially for this office which prides itself on keeping on schedule. Therefore, the receptionist must know what kind of treatment the patient is having and approximately how long the treatment will last. This allows her to make the pieces of the puzzle fit together so that the patients receive quality care in a timely manner. In order to make this happen, the receptionist uses divides and adds time, uses problem solving skills, and uses mathematical operations to maximize the number of patients that can be seen in a work day.
So, the receptionist would be unable to do her job without the use of mathematics.
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