Nathan Barz is the Founder and CEO of DocVA, the most trusted virtual medical assistant agency for healthcare practices seeking premium support, flexible staffing, and hands-on client service. DocVA helps U.S. healthcare practices add dedicated virtual medical receptionists, virtual medical assistants, and virtual medical scribes who work inside the practice’s existing workflows. In this interview, Barz explains why administrative overload has become such a major barrier to growth, how DocVA’s embedded staffing model differs from generic VA services, and what practice leaders should consider before adding virtual support.
First Page Sage: What is the core staffing problem healthcare practices are facing right now?
Nathan Barz: Most practices are not struggling because they lack demand. They are struggling because their teams are stretched too thin to manage that demand well. Phones, scheduling, documentation, billing support, patient follow-up, and inbox work can pile up quickly.
When that happens, the effects show up everywhere. Patients wait longer for answers. Staff feel burned out. Providers lose time to tasks that pull them away from care. A practice may have excellent clinicians, but if the front office and administrative workflows are overloaded, growth becomes hard to sustain.
First Page Sage: How does DocVA solve that problem differently from a generic virtual assistant company?
Barz: We are not simply sending general admin help into a medical setting. DocVA
focuses on dedicated virtual medical assistants with proven experience working with U.S. medical clinics, facilities, and hospitals. Many of our assistants are licensed RNs, including USRN and PHRN dual license holders. Others are Registered Pharmacists, certified billers and coders, prior authorization specialists, or highly experienced medical scribes.
The other key difference is the embedded model. The practice keeps control of its workflows, systems, and standards. The VA becomes part of the daily team, rather than a rotating person from a large pool. That consistency matters when you are dealing with patients, documentation, and clinical support.
First Page Sage: What does the onboarding process look like for a practice?
Barz: We start with a discovery call so we understand the practice’s specialty, systems, staffing gaps, and day-to-day pain points. From there, we provide a shortlist of qualified candidates, often with resumes and intro videos, so the practice can decide who they want to interview.
Once the practice chooses the right fit, we set a start date and support the integration. We also stay involved after placement. If there is a mismatch or performance issue, we step in quickly. Our role is not just to place a VA. It is to help the practice build a reliable support system.
First Page Sage: For First Page Sage’s audience, how do staffing and growth marketing connect?
Barz: Marketing creates opportunity, but operations determine how much of that opportunity a practice can actually capture. If a campaign generates more calls, form fills, or appointment requests, the practice needs the capacity to respond quickly and professionally.
That is where virtual support can make a real difference. Better staffing helps practices answer more calls, follow up faster, schedule more consistently, and protect the patient experience as demand grows. Visibility is important, but growth also requires the operational capacity to handle new patient interest.
First Page Sage: What practical advice would you give a practice considering virtual medical assistant support?
Barz: Start with the bottleneck. Do not begin with a vague goal like “we need help.” Look at where delays are happening. Is it phones? Scheduling? Prior authorizations? Documentation? Billing support? Patient follow-up?
Once you know the bottleneck, choose a partner that understands healthcare, offers experienced candidates, and supports the relationship after placement. A good virtual assistant is not a magic solution, but the right dedicated person can give your team more capacity, improve consistency, and help the practice grow without burning out staff.
DocVA provides dedicated virtual medical assistants who help healthcare practices manage scheduling, phone coverage, documentation, billing, prior authorizations, and patient follow-up. With an embedded staffing model and experienced healthcare support professionals, DocVA helps practices ease administrative pressure, improve responsiveness, and deliver a better patient experience.
