There can never be any stoppage to work at medical offices as Healthcare providers unlike lawyers, teachers, and shopkeepers, have to be reachable at any time of the day or night. Medical professionals are expected to offer their services round the clock. We understand that you might not be available at wee hours when one a patient has an urgent medical question so it’s essential to have a medical answering service that can act on your part. While recruiting humans for this is not always possible so answering services are a great alternative. Medical answering service can provide hassle-free services round the clock whereas hiring a secretary 24/7 is expensive and not much feasible and practical.
Medical answering services are an important addition to any medical office as they ensure that the patients are being provided assistance whenever they need it. Medical answering service is usually the first point of contact for the patients; hence, it is important for you to select a service that gives the correct impression. The thumb rule is that you should choose the service that reflects the kind of quality backed response your patients expect from you.
Below are a few factors you should consider while choosing the best medical answering services for yourself:
Affordability
Cost is an important factor because the reason you want to choose a medical answering service company is that you want to reduce your overhead costs. While we agree that the cost shouldn’t be the sole factor, it is definitely an important aspect. After all, you are choosing a medical answering service because hiring a 24/7 is quite expensive. You should not go for a cheap one as they might not be user-friendly and harm your reputation, but you should definitely go for the one that promises to offer good services apart from being pocket-friendly. You can set a specific amount (minimum and maximum) what you are willing to pay and then look for services within this range.
Compliance
Fulfillment is another important factor. You should select a firm with strong credentials and the right qualifications. Medical calls can come with emergencies; hence, they are definitely different from other service calls. They should be handled empathetically, politely, and with the right knowledge and skill set. Apart from this, there should also be a high level of security ensuring the safety and confidentiality of patients. A HIPPA compliant medical answering service ensures the utmost privacy of your patients.
Technology
You should always look for medical answering services with the latest technologies and up-to-date methodologies to ensure quality responses. Medical answering service is meant to assist you during your business hours by taking the overflow calls of patients instead of forcing them to voicemail. A technical glitch can even cost a life.
Now that you have read a few factors that should be considered while selecting a medical answering service, below are a few more things that should be kept in mind while making a purchase.
Type of Services
You need to think about the type of services you need based on the kind of office you have. There are a few questions you should ask yourself such as how many medical practitioners are there in your office, what type of medical situation you frequently handle, which type of medical emergency you can expect, and how busy can your office get. For instance, if you have an eye clinic, you will get a few emergencies only. On the other hand, if you have a gynecology clinic, you may run into many emergencies. In the latter case, you should have a medical answering service that is equipped to handle emergencies.
Effective and Timely Assistance
Your patients expect effective and timely assistance. Before choosing a medical answering service, you should check if it has the skills to answer or every call even during excess call flow. An answering service should be able to deal with all the calls individually also when there’s heavy call flow as certain days of the week, can prove busier than the other days. Although you may have extra staff to handle the situation in such cases, an answering service with some extra features will act as a helping hand. It is a good idea to choose a service that has a plethora of experience in dealing with patients who are in pain or need help as early as possible. That’s how you’ll get the type of assistance you require when you don’t have enough intake staff to deal with this issue.
Customizable Answering Services
Your patients will feel comfortable if they feel that you’re accessible. In spite of what type of medical office, you have, a customized medical answering service will make your patients feel that they would be able to reach you quickly. Your medical answering service should be able to works with you to decide which one is an emergency situation and which ones are not. It should be skilled knowing how to convey to you what the patient requires before ending the call.
