When it comes to handling out of hours calls, doctors have very specific concerns with the types of answering services they use as well as the quality of the service provided. Often it can be difficult to find an answering service for a medical practice that has all the features needed, is fully HIPPA compliant, and is available at a reasonable rate.
The Traditional Model
Traditionally the only option most doctors had considered was a live person option for an answering service for a medical practice. This allowed the patient to talk directly to a human being, who then determined if the doctor on call needed to be contacted or if a message would be left for the medical profession when he or she next arrived at work.
Unfortunately, often when this was the option patients tended to be more reactive, and this type of answering service for a medical practice resulted in a lot of emergency calls for doctors that could were really calls that could have waited until the morning.
A New Option
Today, with the technology offered through specialized phone systems, an answering service for a medical practice can be fully automated and actually provide more accuracy in reporting than the in-person live operator option.
With these systems, the patient is able to do several different things. In the case of an urgent situation, he or she can indicate it is an emergency, and the designated doctor on-call will be contacted and return the call within just seconds.
In addition, with the automated answering service for a medical practice, you can even prioritize the calls so that if that doctor is not available or fails to answer, the system automatically goes to the next doctor on the list until the call is completed.
The patient is also able to leave non-emergency messages on the system that are held and then available on the next business day. With the patient having control over the option they choose, they feel confident in knowing the practice is providing the level of service they need both during and after business hours.
With a virtual phone system as an answering service for a medical practice, customization and personalization of the messages, the information your patients will hear, and even how the escalation or urgent calls happen is all in your control. Add to this a low, predictable monthly rate and you have a perfect answer to after hour call concerns.
At No More Phone Tag, we offer a fully customized answering service for a medical practice that is billed at a low monthly flat rate.
