For so many of us caught up in today’s crazy pace, decent sleep is getting increasingly harder to come by. This has always been a dire dilemma for medical doctors — and more than a little dangerous. Wouldn’t you give the world for deep, relaxing and rejuvenating slumber? And wouldn’t that sleep be sweetened if you had in your hire a trusted, compassionate, and professional answering service for doctors, working in the background for you?
Lines of Communication
Busy, busy, busy — some days you’re suffering a serious work overflow and you’d be so glad to have a crack answering service in place! After hours help may be the biggest concern, but then there are those peak periods during the daytime to deal with. When you hire a custom answering service you will get live operators representing your practice at all communication levels. Any system that you have can be accommodated. This is very different than the typical cookie cutter answering service. Calls that need your attention right away can be transferred immediately to your on-call person.
Uncommon Courtesy
Customers today long more than ever to receive service with a warm, human touch. This is in light of all the impersonal emailing, online communication, and information sharing that goes on daily.
A patient’s first phone call to your practice is going to leave a memorable impression, and subsequent calls are going to cement that impression — that connection and personal touch your caller craves. In the present day, our answering service acts as your virtual receptionist.
What you don’t (hopefully) get anymore is Ernestine, the busybody switchboard operator. Recall the stereotypical wise-cracking, gum-chewing character by comedic great, Lily Tomlin — spouting forth in nasal tones and making the odd snorting sound(!) This points to the fact that not only should you carefully vet prospective answering services for phone etiquette — investigate their other qualifications too!
What certifications do they have? Are staff regularly trained, and their skills updated? See if their track record is solid. How many years have they been been building loyal customer relationships — this will indicate the stability of the business. At the end of the day (or night), you should no longer suffer from lost or wrongly-routed phone calls.
Sometimes there can be a bustle and flurry of activity surrounding the doctor’s office and staff . How good then, to be able to give your patients who call in, undivided attention to their queries and concerns. Your professional answering service partner has that department covered.
Professionalism with Pampering
Pampering your patients with a personalized experience will keep positive energy and business flowing back to you! Professionalism is one thing, but an ultimate answering service needs to employ empathy — From emergency medical calls to booking even ‘routine’ appointments.
Because no appointment is ever really routine to your patient. There is always a deep-down, underlying worry — because every individual’s health is so personal! It’s so encouraging and comforting to your caller to be able to easily detect the caring atmosphere your practice projects.
Get Hip to HIPAA Guidelines
Finally, let’s make sure your practice unwaveringly adheres to HIPAA regulations. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountancy Act is in place because of the vital need for patient information security. Whether electronic, verbal, or on paper — your patients’ personal information is vulnerable to identity theft. So not only is security paramount, but also the proper disposal of these documents.
Of course it’s of utmost importance to keep your patients’ medical records safe from fraud, but think about this also: not following HIPAA guidelines could get your whole precious medical practice in hot water! Remaining HIPAA compliant will give you the peace of mind that you are fully protecting everybody’s information and in compliance with the law. Armed with this thought, and some newfound understanding — it’s time to secure an answering service for doctors that will have your medical practice humming 24/7.
And then finally grab the chance to recoup that long-awaited, refreshing sleep you so badly need.
