Why Is it Important for a Medical Practice to Invest in Call Answering Services

Running a medical practice is challenging. Attending patient needs will always come first. Nonetheless, when it comes to answering patient calls, managing appointments, or dealing with patients’ emergencies, it can be a lot for medical personnel to handle, especially during peak hours or when the practice is closed. A professional answering service can ease those burdens, enhance the patient experience, and let healthcare professionals concentrate on providing quality health care. In today’s blog, we will talk about the benefits of investing in a professional answering service for each of the medical practices.

Enhanced Patient Experience

One of the major reasons why an answering service for a medical office should be used is to facilitate the patient experience. When patients try to reach a medical office, they want their issues resolved as quickly and efficiently as possible. When all of the necessary calls are answered promptly, there are no delays even during business hours or after hours when the practice is closed. In this manner, patients do not feel annoyed or ignored, thus increasing the possibility of satisfaction and loyalty.

A virtual receptionist can deal with a variety of patients, including new appointments, filing refills, and frequent billing questions. It also means that patients get the information they are looking for without having them on hold for too long. Furthermore, many answering services also provide bifunctional services which aid non-English patients in expressing their concerns.

Constant Access

Clients will know that there are health problems that do not have respect for day or night and even normal working office hours. An efficient answering service will have its clients covered day and night ensuring that a live person can attend to them. This is especially critical for practices who have patients who require immediate attention due to chronic diseases or practices which deal with emergencies.

This aids the practice of focusing on critical things first when there is an array of problems. For example, if a patient has conditions which may be life threatening the answering service will page the doctor on call or ask the patient to go to ER immediately. This may assist practices in improving the quality of their services and avoiding needless loss of life.

Efficient Call Management

Most medical offices may find it difficult to cope with a large volume of calls especially when patients are trying to book an appointment or have certain queries during busy times. When a system is not efficiently implemented, there are calls that go unanswered and opportunities are missed as well as patients’ annoyance. Answering services help to avert such scenarios whereby calls are missed or calls are not understood.

An efficient answering service can allow medical personnel to concentrate on patients that have come to the office since they can be able to prioritize and direct calls depending on their need. This would make work in the office much more efficient as employees do not have to be disturbed several times to pick calls. As a result, the organization operates in a more effective and orderly manner.

Cost-Effective Solution

Employing full-time personnel to deal with the patient calls will increase the costs of the practice – this is true especially for small scale practices. The advantage of this service is that the practice will only pay for those services that are required. Therefore the expenditure generated by payroll, staff benefits and training will not be necessary.

Moreover, an answering service can help cut down on overheads by lessening the number of no-shows and cancellations. Meredith Pomeranz notes that since appointments are confirmed and patients are reminded of such appointments, the service should help bring in more patients for the visits, making the surgery a more profitable venture.

Promotes Adherence and Secrecy

Compliance with regulations regarding the confidentiality of patients and patient records is mandatory. The US HIPAA law states that safeguarding of patient information should be taken seriously, and private medical information should be protected from unauthorized access. All American laws regarding patient information and its integrity can be strictly met by using an answering service. Thanks to professionals, patients’ private data is always protected, thus preventing legal troubles.

People who work for recognized answering services know how to deal with secrets and are well acquainted with the healthcare industry’s rules. They are also able to compile and summarize all activity pertaining to patient telephone communication, ensuring that practices witness all aspects of every interaction. This can be particularly beneficial with regard to how patient interaction is carried out, thus enhancing patient services.

Conclusion

The provision of appropriate communication to patients and their family or friends in present day health care systems is critical for the management of respect and expectations. Overall, a dependable answering service has several advantages, such as enhanced patient experience, 24 hour availability, organizational efficiency, cost effectiveness, and privacy protection. By hiring professionals to answer their phones, medical practices can help their patients whenever required while letting health care providers concentrate completely on providing care.

Every medical practice that wants to improve its patients’ communication should consider a professional answering service a crucial tool, which can result in better results for the patients, better overall effectiveness of the office, and in turn success.

Nieka Ranises