When doctors are on the hunt to hire a professional answering service they look for the best call agents, excellent value for money, and with satisfaction guaranteed – all rolled into one.
But is it easy to get physician answering services that can satisfy all the needs of the medical profession?
The answer is both yes and no.
Yes, there are professional answering services for doctors who can improve the inter-office efficiency with an excellent technology base and a well-trained work force.
The better among the doctor’s answering services will identify their clients’ needs, tailor a solution for them, and evolve with passage of time.
New technology has been of immense help for any professional answering service.
The answering service equipment has evolved a great deal with most hardware elements going virtual.
It is no longer simple inbound telephone lines. Today, answering services have virtual computer systems that track and convey messages. Paper based systems are almost obsolete with most companies owning virtual switchboards and ACD routing technology.
“We need meticulous call management,” says a specialist doctor. “Each inbound call must go through an established protocol.”
This is certainly a challenge for any professional answering service because such a requirement necessitates development of a call flow process that is precise.
Incoming messages must move in the following way.
• The patient calls the answering service
• The answering service responds on the first ring
• The answering service captures information
• Determines which doctor is on call
• Pages the doctor
• Doctor retrieves message and contacts patient
Besides, outbound calls have to be based on client’s preferences. Some calls require doctors’ attention at once and some can be queued to the office staff the following day.
For outbound calls reliability is of utmost importance – rather, it is imperative. Urgent messages cannot wait. They need responses by the doctor concerned at the quickest.
In such a situation, fail-safe notification is a must. A competent medical answering service logs each outbound page. If the important call is not responded within a specified time an escalation protocol is followed. This can entail using alternate contact options, re-paging, or calling alternate health care providers.
