Top 5 Reasons You Absolutely Need To Hire A Medical Answering Service
Are you paying for overnight staff to answer medical calls when a doctor is out of the office?
Is your staff burdened by messages and missed calls every time they return to the front desk?
Do you want your patients to be more satisfied with your services? Do you want them to feel safer, knowing they can contact the office at any time of day or night?
A medical answering service might be just what you need at your doctor’s office.
The most frequent 5 reasons for calling a medical practice after-hours are concerns about pain, questions about medications, obstetric issues, nausea, and fevers.
It’s important for these troubled and sick patients to have a number to call when they need help after hours. It’s also crucial that every medical professional gets a break from answering calls or being on call. They have lives too!
The best way to appease and cater to both parties is to use a medical answering service.
Here are 5 of the top reasons why your practice needs to hire one.
1. You’ll Increase Physician’s Personal Time
While patients sometimes need their doctors at all hours of the night, a medical answering service will help alleviate that pressure for doctors to be readily available at all times.
It’s important for doctors to be available and for offices to be reachable. Nothing’s worse than not being able to get through to your doctor’s office when you have an emergency that isn’t serious enough to warrant a visit to the ER.
But doctors need their time too. They need their vacations, and they need to be able to relax a now and then, without worrying about work or their patients.
By using an answering service, those doctors can rest easy knowing that their patients are in good hands when they aren’t available. Plus, their front desk staff won’t have to start off their days by returning a bunch of unanswered phone calls.
2. You’re Provide a Better Client Experience
Since 2008, phone calls have increased by 25% to 50%. Whether it’s because people have taken better charge of their health or they’re trying to avoid a visit by getting advice on the phone, those calls have increased.
And it’s important for medical professionals to be there for their patients. With a medical answering service, doctors can do just that, without having to take calls themselves, day and night.
Patients will be able to rest easy, knowing they can reach someone day or night. When there is someone to call, even if it’s not their doctor, patients feel well taken care of.
3. You’ll Save Money
The same source we mentioned above stresses that the average doctor call costs that practice $15 to $20. Insurance doesn’t cover calls so that money comes out of an office’s pocket.
A medical answering service doesn’t need sick days, paid vacation, time off, or health benefits. And you won’t even have to pay a full-time staffer an hourly rate.
All you do is pay upfront or monthly for a service, and they’ll take care of all your after-hours calls. Plus, that service can handle overflow calls from all your locations, if that’s what your business requires.
Medical answering services don’t cost very much, either. In fact, the average cost of a call through a medical answering service is $0.79 to $1.05 per call. That’s much less expensive than the $15 to $20 per call we referenced above.
There are many plan options that are less than $100 a month. You can take a look at the different monthly plans, here.
4. You’ll Be Available During Emergencies
Whether it’s hurricanes in the south or snowstorms in the north, changes in weather are inevitable.
If you’re prepared for situations that involve power outages, floods, or anything else that stops your practice from opening, all you have to do is update your medical answering service, and they’ll handle everything from there.
They’ll be able to update your patients each time they call in AND handle any medical concerns as they come up.
Just make sure that your answering service is HIPAA-compliant so that you aren’t violating the act, which protects patient records and information.
5. You’ll Increase Your Profit
A lot of times, a patient will have an issue that can wait until the next day. But if they can’t reach someone on the phone, that disconcerting feeling might encourage them to go elsewhere, like a walk-in clinic or another office.
If that’s the case, your practice will miss out on that business, and you may lose a patient.
A medical answering service not only takes calls but provides medical assistance and guidance over the phone. They’ll be able to treat your patients right by letting them know if their ailment can wait until the next day or if they should report to the ER.
Plus, a lot of front desk staff spends hours returning phone calls or listening to messages each day. With the help of an answering service, they’ll be able to focus more on the patients and the many other tasks they must complete on any given day.
A Medical Answering Service Will Make Your Life Easier
Patients should feel secure, knowing that their doctor’s office provides a way for them to reach a medical professional at any time of the day.
And doctors should feel secure knowing that when they are away, those patient calls are in the hands of professionals they can trust.
Using a medical answering service will keep your patients happy, and give you the time that you need to have your own life. Plus, it’ll save your practice money and allow more time to be spent on other tasks.
Take a look at the many types of medical offices that we serve. You can also request a FREE quote before you a commitment.
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