When it comes to healthcare and medical field, 24×7 availability becomes extremely important. While keeping the clinic open for 24 hours is not practical or economically feasible. It is essential your patients can reach you in medical emergencies. An answering service for doctors can ensure your patients get the help they need when they need it.
With so many medical answering services out there, you need to be careful while selecting one. Here are 5 ways of selecting the most efficient medical answering service for doctors.
Live 24×7 Availability
What is the point in using phone answering service if it is not available 24×7? Many patients call after clinic working hours and it would be good if they are able to connect to your medical practice 24×7. The best answering service for doctors would be available 24 hours, 365 days, during weekends and even during holidays. Besides round the clock availability, the call center agents should be friendly, knowledgeable, and responsive and handle calls the same way as the office receptionist does.
Latest Telecommunication Equipment
An answering service for doctors is not only about human answering the call. It is also about the technology involved. You need to look for a medical answering service that used up-to-date telecommunication hardware and software. You need to ensure the answering services offers:
- Personalized Greeting
- Appointment Updates
- Message Delivery
- Call Screening
- Call Forwarding
- Custom Hold Prompts
- Patient Reminders
HIPPA Compliant
According to the HIPAA Privacy Rule, it is the responsibility of the healthcare service provider to protect individually identifiable health information in all scenarios. You need to look for a medical answering service that is HIPPA compliant which ensure your patient health records are always secure. Before selecting any answering service, you need to look at what policies are in place regarding the handling of HIPPA information. If you think the answering service and its staff do not have experience of handling such private information, walk away from such service providers.
Price of Services
Saving money is important for every business. However, that does not mean you select the lowest priced answering service. Selecting a low priced service means your patients would have to deal with the unprofessional virtual receptionist and low call quality which will leave a bad impression on your patients. You need to look for a balance between price, your need for services and quality.
Personalized Options That Reflect Your Medical Practice
It is important to select an answering service that reflects your professional values. A good answering service would customize their phone scripts to meet your business needs and also follow internal protocols when answering or routing calls.
These are some of the factors that you need to consider when selecting a medical answering service for your medical practice. Selecting the right answering service would not only increase your business but also make your patients happy.
