Medical Answering Service vs Call Center – What’s The Difference?
If you’re looking for additional help with your phone communications, click here! We’re sharing the difference between an answering service and call center.
The Differences Between Medical Answering Service and a Call Center
What’s the one piece of equipment that every medical practice needs to survive?
A telephone might not be the first thing that springs to mind.
Although, what happens on the other end of the telephone line keeps your practice in business.
Running a medical practice doesn’t leave much time for office management duties.
When you are busy with patients, or away from the office, it can be easy to dismiss the simple task of answering the telephone.
But some of the simplest tasks can make a big difference.
A telephone medical answering service may be the solution for you.
Why your telephone should take priority at your healthcare business
How you handle calls can make or break your practice.
You don’t want to miss out on business because no one was available to take a call.
Appointments are made over the phone.
Balances are paid over the phone.
When you deal with health care, there is also the possibility of a patient emergency occurring.
A lot can happen just by answering the telephone.
Who should be answering your doctors telephone?
It isn’t just the telephone itself that makes the difference.
Who is answering it determines a lot.
You want to be sure it is answered with professionalism, and that callers are greeted by a friendly voice.
The person that answers your telephone gives many people their first impression of your practice.
Why a medical receptionist may not be the best person for the job
A receptionist might be the obvious person that you think should take your calls.
But full-time receptionists can be expensive. And a part time receptionist who has phone duty could mean a lot of missed calls.
Besides, you don’t know when a receptionist may have to miss work.
And what if they quit work and you were not prepared?
It could be more than just an inconvenience. It could put you in a major bind.
Small practices may not have enough staff to cover the phone in one of these situations.
And you may not be able to afford to hire extra staff or even a full-time receptionist.
Luckily, there is another option for making sure someone is always answering your telephone.
You may have heard of the trend to outsource calls, which is now being practiced by many small businesses.
Unbeknownst to some, this is not a call center.
Telephone Answering Service versus a Medical Call Center
Many people don’t understand the difference between an answering service and a call center.
HIPAA Compliant Answering Service and Call Center
Sometimes people confuse these terms.
But the two are not all that similar.
A medical call center deals with sizable businesses and may have 200 or more workers who are answering phone lines.
They tend to answer general questions and not deal with the clients specific details.
The medical call center operates in a separately standalone building generally.
A telephone answering service, on the other hand, typically has less than 10 employees. In fact, most of them are likely to have under five workers at a time.
They take specific messages which they deliver directly to you.
Their employees offer callers a more personal experience.
They are more familiar with the practice for which they work.
They usually know the physicians by name that are on duty.
Their employees will answer the phone and take a detailed message. They are capable of answering several lines at once so you can be sure that no call goes unanswered.
They are available to work as needed. You can use them on a daily, overnight, or lunch-hour basis. You can also hire them to answer calls on weekends.
A call service may have more specific. set hours, depending on who they serve
An answering service typically costs less than you would pay a call service.
One reason is because a call service employees many people.
Outsourcing this service is more affordable than paying a full-time office employee to do the job.
Benefits of a using a medical phone answering service
Many medical practices and dentists benefit from using a service to answer calls on a full time or part time basis. Here are a just a few of the reasons why:
- They take calls when the office is closed or the staff is unavailable so you won’t miss any calls.
- They are reliable. You can depend on the fact that they have several employees available to take your calls.
- Their service is reasonably priced. They are typically much less than you would pay a receptionist or secretary and definitely less than what it would take to run a call center.
- It allows staff to do other tasks while they make sure calls are answered.
- You receive important messages regarding your patients’ emergencies so you can be sure they receive the quality care they deserve, no matter when they need you.
- It takes the worry out of a high turnover for receptionists.
Many medical and dental practices rely on their services to make sure their phones are always answered by someone.
You might be surprised just how much a professional service can benefit your practice.
These services have helped physicians make sure their patients are taken care of for many years.
They can help your medical staff too
If you want to learn more about what an answering service provides or have additional questions, click here to have all of your questions answered!
You don’t have to worry about the phones ringing and being too busy to get every call anymore.
Let a professional service answer your calls and take the stress out of your day.
We know how busy you are and that it takes a lot to run a small business successfully.
Make sure you keep your patients happy by being available anytime they need you, even after-hours or on the weekends.
And, you can still enjoy spending time with your family and being home in time for dinner in the evenings.
You can return your patients calls from the comfort of your home.
For that matter, you can return calls from pretty much anywhere when you leave the phone duty to a professional.
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