5 Questions To Ask Before You Hire A Medical Answering Service

If you operate a medical practice, a professional medical answering service can serve as the lifeline, keeping your office accessible to patients around the clock. Did you know that 96% of patient complaints are related to customer service issues? This means effective communication in healthcare settings should be a priority. The U.S. healthcare landscape is becoming consumer-driven and therefore more competitive. When patients have choices, healthcare organizations that prioritize exceptional customer service can earn higher patient satisfaction. This can mean a stronger bottom line, because healthcare practices with higher satisfaction scores have been shown to earn twice the revenue growth compared to those with lower satisfaction scores.

If you have already hired a professional medical answering service, this is a signal that you’ve made a commitment to improving the patient and caller experience. Such answering services are very beneficial for maintaining high quality patient communication and helping patients, their caretakers and loved ones feel valued and appreciated. A 24/7/365 medical answering service has the capacity for additional features: for instance, it can be set up to allow your patients to book, reschedule, or cancel appointments at their convenience, even when your facility is closed. If you don’t already have an answering service, or if you are looking to make a change, let’s review what you should look for. There are 5 main questions to ask each of the candidates you are considering, to help you choose the best answering service for your medical practice.

Benefits of A Medical Answering Service

Whether you run a pediatrics office, a neurology practice, a veterinarian center, or any other type of healthcare setting, the best medical answering service will become an extension of your team. Here are just some of the benefits of a medical answering service:

• Cost Savings: A medical answering service can greatly reduce your administrative costs by reducing or completely removing the need for a receptionist. This means slashing admin expenses like salaries, benefits, training, and some of the telephone equipment. For just a fraction of the cost, answering services enable healthcare practices to be accessible 24/7, without having to coordinate lunch and vacation schedules among your staff. Thanks to the power of technology, answering agents are always on, 24/7/365.
• Stop Missing Calls: Thanks to the medical answering service, you will never miss a call again, even after hours or if you are busy consulting with patients. This signals strong commitment to patient care and says a lot about your practice. It may be a new mom calling to ask about her baby’s fever in the middle of the night, or an existing patient calling to schedule a follow-up appointment after hospitalization – whatever the nature of the call, a medical answering service handles these interactions with efficiency and professionalism. Your practice will become known as a patient-centric and responsive choice for patients in your area.

• HIPAA Compliance: Every healthcare organization in the US must comply with the latest HIPAA regulations. You must safeguard patient privacy, and the right medical answering service will have all the processes in place to keep you HIPAA-compliant. No need to worry about your patients’ privacy when they call in and share private information.

• English/Spanish Support: Bilingual answering services can help you improve communication with your patients who primarily speak Spanish. No need to struggle or hire additional office staff just to handle communication with this segment of the population. A bilingual answering service makes it much easier for everyone to get the care and information they need. If you specify that you need a Spanish speaking agent, an answering service should be able to accommodate this request. This will help your callers feel more comfortable and avoid any miscommunication due to possible language barriers.

• Focus on other tasks: When you hand off call handling to an answering service, your staff will have more time for other work, and with fewer  interruptions. Answering services screen calls, schedule appointments, and handle routine inquiries, and even provide follow-up calls and text messages.

• Reduce Stress: Health worker burnout is very alarming, and is reaching crisis levels. By handling patient calls, appointments, and inquiries, medical answering services can reduce the administrative burden on your professional staff.

5 Questions You Should Ask Before You Hire A Medical Answering Service

Hiring an answering service may seem easy, but choosing the right one can be tricky. All answering services seem the same at first, if you just read their website or scan their brochure. To make sure you hire a medical answering service that best represents your culture, values, and processes, be sure to ask these 5 questions as part of the interview and comparison process:

1. What Is Your Availability and Response Times?

As a healthcare professional, you know that timely communication can be life-saving. Ask about the medical answering service’s hours of operation available and how they handle weekends and holidays. Some answering services may also share information about their average response times for incoming calls, which is a valuable statistic to compile. Will your patients have to wait 2 minutes before they reach a live operator? Or 30 seconds or less?

2. Is Your Service HIPAA Compliant?

As part of your research and evaluation process, you have to make sure the service has everything in place to maintain confidentiality and comply with HIPAA regulations. Some examples of what a HIPAA-compliant answering service will have are: data encryption, access controls, and secure communication channels to protect patient information. Additionally, their staff should receive ongoing HIPAA training.

3. How Much Does It Cost?

Price should not be your first, or your only question, but it’s an important one to ask. Not all answering services are equal. Start by asking about the monthly costs: does it match your monthly call volume? Are there overage charges? Will you be charged extra for secure patient messages or other features? Make sure the service fits your budget now, and gives you the flexibility to grow without exorbitant fees.

4. How Customizable Is Your Service?

With the right medical answering service, you should have the option to choose and set up customized call flows. As an example, if a patient has an urgent medical question, they could be routed to a medical professional immediately. You may decide that some calls should go to your on-call doctor or nurse. Less urgent or routine calls should be routed to a secure voicemail. A medical answering service should be able to accommodate these and other types of call flows.

5. How Are Your Agents Trained?

When you invest in an answering service, the last thing you want is an unqualified agent answering calls on behalf of your medical practice. Ask how many days or weeks of training each answering agent undergoes, and what type of quality assurance processes are in place. You may be able to have access to call recordings for training and quality assurance purposes.

Don’t miss another call – consider hiring a medical answer service. Follow our 5 questions to help you narrow down your options and choose the right long-term partner for your practice.