7 Healthcare Answering Service Tips
Do you need a medical phone answering service for your hospital or clinic? If so, selecting the right answering service will provide you with the same peace of mind that you provide to your patients.
It will help your patients even when you are busy with other things. As a result, search for medical answering services that can provide patients with after-hours phone support.
Choose operators who are well-versed in medical terminology. They will send urgent messages with the name, date, time, DOB, and the purpose for the call in a timely and effective manner.
As such, before jumping on the call center bandwagon, here are 7 healthcare answering service tips to consider.
1. Round the Clock Answering Service
People can’t choose when to get sick, and thus, as a medical practitioner, your job needs you all the time. The patients should thus reach you at any time for urgent medical issues.
You require an answering service for healthcare with 24/7, 365 days a year availability. The service allows you to stay on call even while you’re out handling other things.
After-hours medical answering fills in the patient-physician gap existing once your office closes. They offer much-needed support to patients to determine their next course of action. Healthcare after-hours answering solutions decide between urgent cases and those that can wait.
The round the clock answering service also assists with calls overflow if you’re too busy to answer. By making you accessible at all hours, they ensure patient satisfaction. You’re also able to organize your work better for effective business operations.
2. Cost to Answer Calls
How much do you pay for answering calls? Answering service for healthcare business costs varies depending on your service need.
The medical answering services charge an overall fee offered for the whole setup. You’ll, however, need to know the breakdown to understand setup costs and overages. If they record call times, check how they round up the minutes.
The healthcare answering service costs must be reasonable. You wouldn’t want the prices to eat up your profits, right? Ensure that you get value in service matching what you have to pay.
Check if there are free trials so you can test out their services to find if they apply to your profession. Get free answering service quotes and find an affordable option for you.
3. Experience in Handling Medical Calls
Not all healthcare answering services are created equal, so take your time to research. The efficiency of your choice depends on their experience in handling medical calls.
How long have they been in business? Have they served businesses similar to yours? Such questions are relevant when choosing doctors answering services.
If you’re a dentist, it’s advisable to go with an option that’s served as a dentist answering service. Their background knowledge within the practice makes them qualified for handling your calls. Check their customer reviews also to identify how they’ve handled direct callers before.
Experience almost always guarantees excellent service, so selecting them can be invaluable.
4. HIPAA Compliance
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires doctors to be sensitive about patient information. HIPAA compliance is, therefore, a necessity by law for answering services.
As a medical practitioner, you’re responsible for whoever accesses your patient’s data. The medical answering service should offer guarantees they can handle such information well.
Breaching patient confidentiality is a violation of HIPAA and can attract hefty fines. HIPAA compliance for healthcare answering services is, therefore, a must-have.
5. Data Security
What data security measures do the healthcare answering solutions have in place? Your selection needs to utilize the latest medical software for top data security.
There’s no gambling with the security of your enterprise. You’ll therefore need assurance that the answering service isn’t a loophole. Ensure they’re not using outdated software and technology that poses security risks.
Their operating systems should be up to date and fitted with antivirus software too. The answering service should offer security training to their staff for complete service.
6. Automated Solutions
You wouldn’t want the information scattered all over, right? Proper organization is necessary to piece together all the required elements for messages. In making communication easier, you should consider going for automated solutions.
If you receive many calls and messages, it will be critical to have automated solutions. The answering service’s web portal should thus;
• Log your calls and messages
• Offer you access to medical reports
• Allow for changing on-call schedules
• Offer on-site features that allow you to play call recordings
In putting the bits and pieces together, they make operations much quicker.
7. Additional Types of Medical Related Services
How many more services do they offer apart from answering calls? Your choice of medical answering services should surpass call answering and information relaying.
Additional medical-related services that they can offer include;
• Call patients for appointment reminders
• Record calls and archives them for future retrieval
• Follow up with patients
• Schedule appointments
• Bilingual support
• A customized approach for staff and patient message handling
These extra services help you go the extra mile to ensure your patients feel appreciated. They personalize your caller’s experience, which ensures patients benefit a great deal.
Consider the Above Tips for Choosing Healthcare Answering Service
As a doctor, you’re always busy, but you’ll need to remain accessible to your patients. Hiring a healthcare answering service ensures you’re able to keep customer satisfaction. Consider the above tips about what to look for in a healthcare answering service.
Are you looking for a healthcare answering service? Medical Call Service is here to help! We’ll help you find reliable medical answering service solutions for your business.
Describe your needs and how you need your medical calls managed. We’ll get you same-day quotes from the nation’s most trusted medical calls centers.
Contact us today to get a quote.
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