Updated on May 2, 2024 by Jordan McGlone
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If your team is drowning in work, calls keep disrupting your flow, patient concerns are always missed, and you are starting to get bad feedback, then it is time to hire a medical answering service team.
Higher patient traffic is good for business, but only if you can handle it properly. Missed opportunities from frustrated or confused customers can mean bad business.
Do you still have second thoughts about outsourcing services for your medical practice? In this blog, we’ve rounded up the top signs you need a medical answering service.
Key Takeaways
1. Some of the top warning signs that you need a medical answering service team include overwhelmed workers, missed calls, bad customer feedback, inefficient operations, and mishandled emergencies.
2. Medical answering services offer several benefits for healthcare providers, including improved availability, patient experience, efficiency, and round-the-clock answering service.
3. PatientCalls is a HIPAA-compliant medical answering service provider that specializes in catering to the needs of medical offices.
Top 7 Signs That Your Medical Office Needs to Hire a Medical Answering Service
A growing business will definitely result in higher demand and, therefore, higher inquiries and calls. With this growth comes more work for your team. Unfortunately, there is only a limit to how much your members can handle.
Forcing your team to handle too much work can lead to employee burnout. This is where medical answering services come into play.
Outsourcing your services can greatly improve your team’s efficiency and overall morale. It can help you cater to the higher demand that comes with growth.
To help you decide, here are eight sure-fire warning signs that you are in dire need of a medical answering service.
Your Team Is Overwhelmed With Work
This is the most obvious and critical sign that you are in need of help from a medical answering service. As mentioned, a growing business will definitely bring more volume to your medical office. Despite this, your established team will only have a maximum amount of work that they can handle before they reach their limit.
Too much work will lead to lower morale and less optimal working conditions. This result will not only hurt your operations, but it can actually affect your business reputation as well.
Calls Are Constantly Missed or On Hold for Too Long
Missed calls equate to missed opportunities. This issue can lead to frustrated customers and loss of business. Similarly, putting a patient on hold for too long shows divided attention and a lack of proper call handling.
If customers face these problems frequently with your services, they may be less likely to choose your medical office for their concerns. Regardless of the reason why it takes an employee to answer a call promptly, customers may feel dismissed.
Calls Are Always Misrouted
If you have a dedicated receptionist for receiving patient calls, but they are always being misrouted, this can be a sign of a lack of organization and proper orientation. Not only will this problem cause confusion, but it can also disrupt the working process of other departments.
This issue can certainly cause frustration for patients as well as your team members. The problem also lengthens the waiting time, which can be critical for emergencies.
Your Office Gets Calls and Messages at Night and Over the Weekends
Not all medical concerns occur during regular business hours. If you notice that your medical office is receiving calls after hours, then this is a sign that you might need to extend your operations.
You will need a reliable system to accommodate customers during weekends and after regular business hours. A medical answering service that offers after-hours services can ensure that patients receive assistance whenever they need it, enhancing the level of care and responsiveness your practice provides.
While this solution does not guarantee that the patient’s concerns will be addressed during after-hours, it can help them schedule a better time to get checked.
You Are Getting Bad Customer Feedback From a Lack of Efficiency
If you’ve been experiencing the past points we’ve laid out, chances are you are already getting bad reviews on different platforms.
Poor customer feedback can be a red flag, indicating that your medical office is not meeting patient expectations in terms of efficiency and responsiveness. If patients are dissatisfied with long hold times, missed calls, or inefficient call handling, it’s time to consider outsourcing your phone answering needs to a professional service specializing in medical communication.
Emergencies Are Improperly Handled
Effective handling of medical emergencies is critical for patient safety and satisfaction. Failure to handle emergencies can be the result of too much phone traffic, an inexperienced receptionist, or a limited working schedule.
Your office’s ability to address emergencies shows your business’ preparedness and operational efficiency. If your office staff does not handle emergencies promptly or appropriately, it can have serious consequences.
Constant Calls disrupt Productivity
Higher phone call traffic can sometimes take away from doing your team’s main jobs. Constant interruptions from phone calls can disrupt the workflow and productivity of your medical office staff.
If your team is frequently being pulled away from their tasks to answer phones, it can hinder their ability to focus and complete their work efficiently. Even with the help of proper call management, operations can still be disrupted when patients keep asking frequently asked questions to a department.
Benefits of Hiring a Medical Answering Service
Medical answering services are outsourced programs that help medical offices handle most administrative tasks, including appointment scheduling, billing, insurance processing, and patient interviews. These third-party services become an extension of your main jobs and help your team members focus on their jobs better.
Specifically, here are some benefits of hiring a medical answering service:
- Improved call-answering efficiency. The main job of medical answering services is to answer patient calls, interview them, and address their primary concerns. With their help, all calls can be answered and never missed, increasing your business leads.
- Less waiting time. Medical answering representatives are professionally trained to answer basic and frequently asked questions for patients. This means that they can directly answer basic questions about scheduling, billing, insurance claims, or available services. This prevents your team from pulling focus away from their main jobs while addressing customer concerns right away.
- Availability. Medical answering services, like PatientCalls, are available 24/7. This means that they can provide round-the-clock coverage, ensuring that patients will have someone to talk to when they want to schedule an appointment, even after hours.
- Enhanced patient experience. A medical answering service ensures that patients can reach a live representative 24/7, improving accessibility and responsiveness. Patients appreciate the ability to speak with a knowledgeable professional who can assist them with their inquiries, schedule appointments, and provide support, leading to higher levels of patient satisfaction.
- Reduced workload for team members. Outsourcing phone answering tasks to a medical answering service reduces the workload on in-house staff, allowing them to focus on core responsibilities such as patient care and administrative tasks. This leads to improved staff morale, decreased burnout, and increased productivity within the medical office.
- Scalability in response to business growth. Hiring a medical answering service allows your medical office to expand service and operations without permanently hiring new staff members. This reduces the need to expand your working space while still expanding patient accommodation. This flexibility ensures that medical practices always have the support they need to handle incoming calls efficiently without being overwhelmed by sudden surges in activity.
Medical answering services do not only improve your operational efficiency. They also improve your business sales while requiring less cost than expanding your permanent operations.
Get the best medical answering services from credible companies, such as PatientCalls. Our services are HIPAA-compliant and certified by healthcare providers. This ensures your business that our team of experts has the necessary professionalism, skills, and compliance knowledge to keep your business going seamlessly.
Does a Medical Answering Service Support Every Type of Medical Practice?
Ideally, medical answering services can serve any type of medical practice. Their main task is handling major administrative work, including patient health information.
These services can be applied to medical offices, dental clinics, hospitals, and home care services. Despite this, some medical answering services may have their specializations. As such, practice due diligence when outsourcing your services. The level of support and specialization offered by a medical answering service can vary based on factors such as expertise, technology capabilities, and service offerings.
Get the Best HIPAA-Compliant Medical Answering Service Today From PatientCalls
If any of the signs we mentioned resonate with your business operations, then it’s time to hire a medical answering service. The next question now is how to choose one. When choosing the best medical answering service, choose one that has a proven track record and is HIPAA-compliant.
With PatientCalls, you can trust that every call is handled with the utmost care and confidentiality, keeping patient information secure and protected at all times. Our HIPAA-compliant service ensures that your practice remains in full compliance with regulatory requirements, giving you peace of mind and allowing you to focus on delivering exceptional patient care.
Say goodbye to missed calls, long hold times, and administrative burdens. PatientCalls provides round-the-clock support, seamlessly integrating with your existing systems to streamline communication and enhance patient satisfaction. Whether it’s appointment scheduling, message taking, or urgent call handling, our dedicated team is here to support you every step of the way.
Contact us today and get a free quote!
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