Today, there are various ways for a physician to communicate with patients including text messaging, web portals, and telehealth apps. The phone is the undisputed means of communication for patients seeking urgent assistance. This allows live two-way conversation making offering immediate assistance possible.
Answering phone calls makes patients get closer to your practice while allowing getting new ones. In-house phone answering staff lack time to offer adequate assistance to all patients on the phone all the time. Enlisting a medical answering service is the solution to save your practice to various real-life situations with callers. Read on to discover the high-quality experience your callers receive from a professional answering service.
Fills the staffing gap
There is a significant shortage of healthcare workers to meet the demands of patients. Realizing the value of outsourcing is the solution for practice owners and managers to fill the persistent shortage of staff. There are various tasks and operations you can outsource to free up your employees’ time and limits your expenses.
Outsourcing an affordable physicians answering service takes the burden off your overworked staff. It alleviates the effects of understaffing in your practice whether on a temporary or permanent basis. You get peace of mind that all calls to your practice are answered regardless of whether you are on vacation, your employees are on sick leave, or unavailable. The professional call agents handle all calls and forward important messages to appropriate personnel.
Handles call overflow
Medical practices sometimes deal with a large volume of calls. The regular number of inbound calls for a health care provider is 53 daily but this number can go higher during busy periods. It is very hard for your in-house staff to answer all calls. This comes with severe consequences on your practice. Putting callers on hold is very frustrating and makes them call another practice. Hiring a professional answering service helps ensure answering all calls to avoid upsetting your patients.
Profession call agents will come in handy when having call overflow. Responding to all patients’ inquiries and passing all urgent messages to the appropriate personnel gives patients a positive experience. These live operators use a customized script to handle calls to your requirements. The answering service offers peace of mind that all patients’ needs by addressing on time and professionally.
Protection from reputational damage
Patients expect the best service from their physicians always. Getting service below their expectations makes them get mixed feelings about your medical practice. Some of the things that give patients a negative experience include real-life inability to access their physician for emergencies. A professional answering service has experienced and professional agents always available to answer calls to your practice.
Compliance with HIPAA regulations is a big concern for medical practice owners. Situations that compromise the security of patients’ medical records come with dire consequences. Your practice is liable to lawsuits and fines. All this comes with significant reputational damage. Fortunately, a professional answering service has call agents at par with updates regarding HIPAA regulations. This protects your practice from any reputational damage resulting from noncompliance.
Offers 24/7 support
Start-up medical practices lack resources to hire full-time staff responsible for answering calls while handling other tasks. These usually switch to other alternative options including offering phone services outside regular business hours. This prevents missed calls to the practice. Other options include forwarding calls to the physician on duty. However, this solution is not appropriate for most medics since they want their private time unless for an emergency. This can’t be guaranteed since some callers have trivial issues that don’t need immediate assistance.
Other medical practices opt for automated voice and text messaging platforms to fill the staffing gap. This system records patient inquiries to forward them to the appropriate on-call physician. The doctor is disturbed with trivial issues that don’t need emergency assistance. Additionally, this solution is prone to technical glitches and errors leading to poor patient experience. This worsens since the patients don’t talk to a real person to address their issue.
Outsourcing phone answering to a professional agency offers the appropriate 24/7 assistance your patients need. The call agents have appropriate medical knowledge and experience to use a customized script to greet callers and respond to their inquiries promptly. An answering service tracks physicians’ availability by maintaining an on-call schedule. Updating this is on the fly to allow accommodating ad hoc changes. The answering service has agents operating round the clock throughout the year to give patients the appropriate assistance.
Conclusion
A doctor answering service is an affordable and efficient solution to address various situations in your medical practice. This service offers round the clock support to patients to allow your staff to focus on offering quality patient care. Your patients will enjoy better satisfaction regardless of time or day. Regardless of the size of your practice, assistance from an answering service makes staff happier, more productive, and relaxed.
Tags: answering service, doctors
