If you work in the medical industry, you know that any phone call must be considered urgent until proven otherwise, regardless of what time of the day it is. However, any organization can struggle with taking 100 percent of incoming phone calls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year.
Medical workplaces can be incredibly hectic, and a single person may be expected to carry out several tasks – sometimes, all at once. But as modern technologies change the way the industry works, more and more painters expect to receive 24/7 attention, whether it’s in-person or through a telephone call.
In this scenario, it can be tricky to fulfill your patients’ expectations, provide spotless medical care, and keep your practice afloat at the same time. Thankfully, a messaging service can help you cover some of the bases, and make it easier to work on the rest. Particularly for small and medium-sized medical offices, it’s very important to choose a great messaging service or outsource answering system that fits your needs while still ensuring that your patients receive the care that they deserve.
Here are 3 profitable benefits of outsourcing calls.
#1. You can customize the service to fit your needs.
Not all medical practices look alike, nor do they provide the exact same services to patients with the same characteristics. It should go without saying, then, that not all medical practices have the same requirements when they hire an answering service.
The good news is that a great medical answering service can be easily customized to fit your practice’s needs perfectly.
An answering service can provide a wide range of services, from scheduling appointments, to sending out automated reminders, and answering inquiries from patients.
Many of these services also offer the possibility of recording customized messages for your patients, providing bilingual care, and transferring calls directly when your patients need urgent attention. You will be able to create a personalized remote call center that will work for you and your patients.
Additionally, an answering service can help you provide better care by gathering important data on your community’s needs and trends. This can also help you allocate resources more efficiently.
#2. Your phone lines will stay open 24/7, 365 days of the year.
All doctors know that emergencies don’t take holidays. However, that doesn’t mean that you and your staff don’t deserve a break sometimes!
It can be nerve-wracking to take some days off if you’re worrying about what will happen to your patients if they can’t reach you. Many physicians are familiar with the sensation of not fully enjoying a holiday because of this constant worrying. And patients can also feel very anxious if they can’t reach their doctor’s office successfully.
Thanks to a virtual answering, your patients will know that they can always call your practice. The service can be customized to send you or your partners real-time messages in case of urgent inquiries, or to take messages for less urgent matters.
This arrangement will make it easier for you to enjoy your time off, knowing that your patients will always have someone to call – and that you’ll be notified immediately in case of an emergency – while also making your patients feel valued and taken care of.
Remote call centers can also be very useful if you want to create an emergency preparedness plan for your practice. If an emergency or natural disasters strikes in your area, operators will keep working remotely to ensure that patients receive updates about your practice’s status.
#3. Your patients’ needs and privacy will be respected.
Respecting patients’ confidentiality should always be a top priority for any medical institution, big or small. Patients come to you during vulnerable times in their lives, and you’re expected to be able to protect the information that they have trusted you with.
Additionally, privacy breaches can be incredibly costly to your practice. In addition to representing a legal risk, these incidents can have a long-lasting effect on your practice’s reputation, and lead to hefty fines or lawsuits.
Great answering service companies are HIPAA compliant at all times. They make sure to train their operators on how to respect a patient’s privacy, and they provide secure platforms that have strong privacy protocols.
By choosing the right medical answering service, you’ll be taking a necessary step to help your practice run more efficiently while still ensuring that your patients’ confidentiality is always at the top of the priority list.
