As your medical practice continues to grow, there may come a point where you need to hire additional staff or look at partnering with an answering service to assist your office. Whether this extra support is required to yield your after-hour calls, handle your overflow calls during peak times, or assist with appointment scheduling, it is necessary for the growth of your practice. However, determining what the best option is for your office can be a tough decision. If you decide that a service is the best choice, you will want to ensure it is 100% HIPAA compliant and that it is a perfect extension of your office, displaying the same qualities and values as your practice.
Partnering with an answering service will allow you to focus on what’s most important, your core business and servicing the patients within your practice. Medical offices can be very complex and some calls may need to be treated with urgency; your answering service must be able to manage these types of situations seamlessly.
Here are a few things that every medical practice needs in an answering service:
Customization: Not all medical offices are the same and therefore, may require different solutions. When hiring an answering service, it is important to find one that is able to provide you with a solution that meets your particular needs. They should be experienced in your industry and have a clear understanding of how your calls should be handled.
Around the clock support: In the medical industry, it is vital to have a reliable service that is available no matter the time or day. In a field where a phone call could mean the difference between life and death, you want to ensure you have a dependable service that will answer calls promptly.
Human Element: You do not want to lose the human element by utilizing a service that shows no emotion and sounds very monotone and robotic. It is important to find one where the customer service representatives that handle your calls are able to adjust their demeanor based on the emotional needs of the patient or caller, while also remaining professional.
Highly Trained Staff: When outsourcing your calls you will want to choose a partner that is able to provide the same level of service to your patients as your office personnel would. Why would you want to risk your reputation by hiring less than the best? At AnswerNow, our staff is trained on relevant medical terminology and how to follow and enforce company protocols. We are aware of the diverse needs of the medical field and thus have worked with countless specialties within the industry.
When deciding to partner with a service center these are just a few things you want to look for in a medical answering service. Check out our service comparison checklist to help you compare more of our service features to other providers. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call or request a free quote.
