Updated on November 12, 2020 by Jordan McGlone
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Now is the time to get your practice set up with a medical answering service to ensure seamless accessibility for your patients over the holiday. It doesn’t take long to get familiarized call answering agents with your preferred protocol or complete EMR integration, but it’s not something you want to worry about during the pre-holiday rush.
Things are already crazy these days for health care professionals, and before the holidays is always a busy time for offices. And the advantages of outsourcing call handling are especially valuable during this hectic season.
Medical Answering Service Outsourcing for the 2020 Holiday
The 2020 holiday season presents unique challenges for health care providers. Now, more than ever – with the COVID-19 pandemic spreading – patients rely on their doctors for guidance and treatment. With the seasonal flu and strep throat infections on the rise, patients are likely to consistently seek advice from their doctors throughout this winter. Plus, patients still need to make and change appointments, request prescription refills, and ask their physician questions even during this season.
It’s understandable your practice wants to be available and able to support patients even while the staff is on vacation.
The Solution to Common Challenges During the Holidays
What kind on issues can a reliable medical answering service help your practice avoid?
- Inconsistent accessibility for patients because of special holiday hours or the office closing early.
- Handling overflow calls during business hours on the days before and after the holidays.
- Triaging calls, call forwarding, and taking messages while staff is reduced or the clinic is closed.
- Expensive staffing costs over the holidays.
- Missing important messages.
- Mishandling emergency calls.
- Doctors and staff loosing special time with their families and loved ones.
Seasonal Medical Answering Service Benefits
- Relief for Office Staff
By working with a medical answering service, receptionists and administrative workers are supported in the busy days before and after holiday closures. Plus, your practice can provide full-time staff with much-needed paid time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s festivities. Phone answering agents follow each practices’ protocol for emergency calls and call forwarding in order to respect the time of on-call doctors while they celebrate with family. These perks are crucial when it comes to employee retention.
- Round-the-Clock Support for Patients
The holidays are always a difficult time for patients. Medical issues don’t take a break just because their doctor’s office is closed. And a doctor’s responsibility isn’t put on pause for the season either. On-call, after-hours answering services for medical offices make sure that support is accessible whenever patients need it. Knowing that their calls will be answered 24/7 provides a great deal of comfort for them.
- Quick Relay for Telehealth
Many offices have been virtually visiting patients via telemedicine since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, and this trend is likely to continue through the holiday season. Medical answering services have proved to be an agile way to connect patients to physicians for scheduled telehealth appointments or for urgent care. Even if patients and doctors are traveling over the holidays, call agents can quickly connect them through your practice’s preferred telemedicine platform.
- Seamless Scheduling and Appointment Changes
With frequent scheduling changes, for staff and patients, this can be a chaotic time for keeping track of appointments. That’s why medical answering services use EMR integration. It ensures that schedules stay clear and are synched whether an appointment is made, canceled, or changed by in-office staff or call agents.
- Renewed Focus on What Matters the Most
The real value of outsourcing call management comes from the time freed up. When relieved from the need to handle high call volume, answering routine patient questions, and scheduling appointments, you and your staff have more time to dedicate to more important things. Whether that’s developing strategies for running your practice more efficiently or spending more time with patients, you will benefit from greater focus on what matters.
Getting Started with Our Seasonal Answering Services
Don’t wait for the holiday rush to arrive. Get set up now with a dedicated 24-hour call center that can support your patients 365 days a year. Contact PatientCalls today.