As the Holidays Approach, Measure the Impact of a Medical Answering Service
When the holiday season descends on a business, it can place a number of additional stresses on operations that aren’t present throughout the year. Medical offices are certainly not immune from these effects. Indeed, the combination of staff looking to take holidays along with the onset of cold and flu season, combined with the additional accidents that usually take place during this season, can make the holidays truly stressful on the inside of a medical practice. However, using a 24/7 medical answering service can have a huge impact in blunting the effect of all these stressors.
Changing and reduced hours during the holiday season also add to the pressure on medical offices. This can make it hard for patients to reach the correct people at the practice, which can be frightening and stressful for them. The use of an inbound medical call center can help bridge the gap, and ensure that lines of communication stay open at all times. Here are several ways that an answering service can benefit a medical office.
- Following up and reminding patients of when they have to come in for their appointments is a fairly time consuming and mundane task for full-time medical office staff. Handing this off to an answering service is a great way to let your staff focus on more important tasks.
- Patient concerns don’t end when your business hours do. By using a virtual receptionist service during the holidays you give your patients the confidence that they can get a message through to their important care professionals whenever they need to, even if the offices are closed.
- Even if you have someone answering the phones on the ground in your business, it can help take the pressure of that person by having an inbound call center solution to take overflow calls. The service can also pick up the slack when your primary receptionist needs time off during the holidays.
- Medical offices aren’t the only ones dealing with unexpected scheduling changes during the holidays. Patients deal with the same thing. An answering service can simplify rescheduling of appointments for patients when these types of holiday-induced changes appear.
- Finally, the most important function of an answering service is to ultimately facilitate the communication between your patients and the medical professionals in your office, even when those professionals may be away from the office proper.
To ensure that you’re utilizing the best possible medical answering service, you need to use the services of a HIPPA compliant provider. That ensures you get all the benefits already discussed while staying compliant with all legal regulations, and protecting the privacy of your patients.