Tag: answering service

Why Your Clinic Needs a Live Answering Service

 

Professionals who work with people have good training in their field of specialization. But even people who have the best training need help in managing their schedules and appointments.

In the medical field, doctors who have private practice employ a small staff to do the scheduling and management of their schedules and patients. In this case, for the purpose of answering queries and calls about schedules and treatments, there is now an option of hiring a person to stay in the office, an automated answering machine or a live answering machine.

There are advantages to all three but here is why your clinic needs a live answering service:

  1. They are available even after hours

Clinics have limited office hours. In some cases calls for queries and scheduling come beyond the set hours. Employing a live answering machine can make this more efficient for you since they will have access to your calendar and at the same time keep you posted about the changes in your calendar.

  1. They provide real customer interaction.

Sometimes, even if automated answering machines can provide the necessary information about the clinic and the doctors, they do not offer a real interaction. This is something crucial for medical phone call communications. Callers and potential patients should feel like they are being attended to by real people in real time and not just programmed to answer to set questions.

  1. They can coordinate and follow-up schedules.

Clinics run smoothly if schedules are followed through and set accordingly. Having a live answering machine can make sure that schedules do not overlap. A live answering machine can also follow-up on patients and remind them of appointments they set.

  1. Retain customers and increase customer satisfaction.

Since a live answering machine is a real-time operator working remotely, there are more chances of customers feeling tended to. For some situations as well, callers an even feel empathy in terms of how they are dealt with. Because of the interaction they experience and the level of precision of the scheduling, your patients have higher chances of coming back and giving you a good rating.

Dealing with patients and bedside manner is something doctors are particular with. For running a private practice, this is all the more crucial. Hiring an in-office staff can cost more and cannot be available 24/7 but having a live medical answering support can deal with this aspect of the job smoothly and with more efficiency at lesser cost.

Choosing the Right Answering Service for Your Medical Practice

 

Choosing the Right Answering Service for Your Medical Practice

Medical answering services have become essential in the current healthcare industry. Call answering service adds significant value to your medical practice. The company helps to handle urgent calls from patients, screen the calls and record important messages. Again, a right answering service helps to increase efficiency in your medical practice, improve patient care as well as reduce costs. Therefore, when shopping for an answering service for your medical practice, ensure you pick a company that understands well the healthcare industry and has the following qualities.

24/7 appointment setting

Besides handling basic phone calls, taking messages and screening phone calls, pick a medical answering service that can handle appointments and extend the booking around the clock. A patient does not have to book an appointment only from your office. So, your medical answering service should be able to handle patients’ inquiries and set appointments with the doctor whether it’s on the weekend, at night or during the normal working hours.

HIPAA compliant

Seek an answering service that is HIPAA compliant (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, 1996). Although HIPAA is decades old, its essential you understand its importance. Both medical practices and answering service should care for their patients and safeguard protected health information always.

Now, under the HIPAA, your medical practice is the covered entity while your call answering company is the business associate. Both of you have to adhere to HIPAA regulations. Therefore, as a medical practitioner, you will be responsible for any breach that your business associate commits including your answering service provider.  Here is some help with HIPAA Compliance.

Nurse triage service

While shopping for a medical call service, pick a company with a nurse triage component. A patient can speak directly to a registered nurse and get some basic medical directions during the after-hours. Therefore, having an answering service that is integrated with nurse triage service offers quality health care support to your patients.

Flexible coverage hours

Picking a medical answering service that offers coverage 24/7 is very important. You don’t have to use the service only during the normal working hours, but it is available whenever it’s needed. An answering service that is available

throughout helps to free up your staff some administrative duties and focus on more productive activities. This helps to improve efficiency as well as improve patient service.

Choosing an answering service for your medical practice is never easy. You have to evaluate the above factors critically before selecting a service. Remember that medical practice is not like any other business. You deal with patients that need immediate feedback. Therefore, the right answering service should possess the above qualities.