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How Spooner Physical Therapy Cut Operating Costs While Maintaining Full Front Desk Coverage With WelcomeWare

Jan 24, 2025 | Case Studies

Spooner Physical Therapy, a 29-location practice in Phoenix, AZ and Dallas, TX, confronted several challenges with its front desk operations. They implemented WelcomeWare in an effort to reduce their operating costs, retain valuable front desk staff, and promote operational efficiencies, while maintaining their vision of “creating an experience in which people thrive.”

“We look for partners that align with our values and that we trust are going to provide us great support. I can easily connect with the WelcomeWare team and get a timely response. The WelcomeWare Customer support and experience has been awesome!”

LaRissa Shaps

Vice President of Company Operations of
Spooner Physical Therapy

The Problem

High operating costs due to being heavy on front desk staff and technicians
High turnover rate among front desk staff
Lower collection rates, schedule-outs, and referral conversions resulting from the constant turnover, hiring, and training of front desk staff
Difficulty maintaining a competitive employee experience because of talented staff and applicants desiring more flexible work opportunities

The Solution – WelcomeWare

Spooner Physical Therapy implemented WelcomeWare’s virtual live-streaming receptionist platform in October 2023, after a careful evaluation of the following elements:

  • Do we really want a kiosk in our clinics and get away from in-person staffing?
  • What are the pros and cons of kiosks? What are the latest trends in technology?
  • How does WelcomeWare compare against other solutions in terms of functionality, cost, and aesthetics?
  • Does WelcomeWare provide the flexibility for some staff to work remotely?
  • How will our team utilize WelcomeWare? Will they be convinced to use it?

Efficient Change Management

Spooner initially launched WelcomeWare in 4 clinics and were diligent with their change management efforts. They wanted their Patient Service Coordinators (PSCs) to understand the objectives of implementing WelcomeWare, and not mistakenly believe their positions were being replaced. Fortunately, implementation was successful, staff were aligned on the objectives, and Spooner was quickly able to expand the use of WelcomeWare to several other clinics.

Implementing WelcomeWare in new clinics was easy and efficient. Operational leadership and experienced front desk staff went onsite at each clinic to cast vision and orient staff on WelcomeWare. They shared keys to success and the benefits of using the kiosks.

Once clinics receive their kiosk, front desk staff can be trained in one hour, and all employees practice using it for several days prior to making the kiosks available to patients.

Throughout the implementation process, Spooner was easily able to connect with any member of the WelcomeWare team. Their dedicated WelcomeWare Customer Success Manager and Customer Service Team consistently supported the change management efforts by participating in Spooner clinic demos, training, and rollouts.

“When we rolled it out into our clinics, efficient change management is a big thing. We didn’t want people to think we’re replacing our employees. We wanted to elevate the Employee and Patient experience, and for our lead PSCs to elevate their leadership in the clinic and serve employees in different ways.”

LaRissa Shaps

Vice President of Company Operations of
Spooner Physical Therapy

The Result

Full Front Desk Coverage At Lower Cost: Leveraged remote PSCs to ensure coverage across all clinics with less people, significantly reducing costs.
Spanish-speaking PSCs Covering All Clinics: Spanish-speaking patients are now always able to check in with front desk staff who speak their language by clicking on the Español button on the kiosk.
Boosted Collection Rates: Increased collection rates from around 85% to over 90% by leveraging front desk staff, who are highly skilled in collections, across every Spooner clinic.

Increased Staff Satisfaction

Spooner Physical Therapy has increased employee satisfaction thanks to the flexibility of front desk staff being able to work from home. Spooner uses the remote front desk position with WelcomeWare as a promotion opportunity. When employees want more responsibility but being a lead PSC is unavailable, they now have the opportunity of being a remote PSC. Overall, WelcomeWare provides Spooner more options for promotion within their current operation.

WelcomeWare Kiosk Metrics

7 sec.

Average patient wait time

0:29

Average duration of check-in

~70%

Patient check-ins done through WelcomeWare

“We no longer have to worry about front desk coverage with clinics that have WelcomeWare, which decreases the stress of the entire team. The overall clinic doesn’t feel the burden when someone calls out sick or is on vacation.”

Michelle Babcock

Chief Experience Officer of
Spooner Physical Therapy

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