What Is a Medical Answering Service & Why Does Your Practice Need One?

In healthcare, professional and constant communication with patients has a huge impact on the success of your medical office. If you want to make sure your patients are looked after 24/7, a medical answering service may be the right solution. Expert help can make an exemplary first impression on every person and provide premium patient care to all your callers.

Table of contents

• What are medical answering services?
• Who works at medical answering services?
• What are the benefits of medical answering services?
• Keeping your calendar full
• Being available 24/7 for your patients
• Creating professional and inviting environment
• Running an efficient practice

What are medical call answering services?

Medical answering services provide professional assistance by live virtual receptionists who can manage your day-to-day communication with patients. This service can be seamlessly matched to the demands of each medical office. Based on your needs, receptionists can answer calls after hours, during peak times, or even 24/7. You can design a custom call flow, allowing receptionists to follow different scripts depending on the nature of the call. They meet the preferences and needs of your medical practice, allowing you to focus on the most critical part of your job – your patients.

Who works at medical answering services?

The fundamental part of every medical answering service is its staff. These are the people who will answer calls, receive messages, book appointments, schedule follow-ups, and provide information to patients, all with professionalism and compassion. Given this level of responsibility, it’s no surprise that every virtual receptionist goes through comprehensive training. As a result, the whole team is prepared to handle various medical calls and are familiar with complex terminology. All members of personnel hired at medical answering services are highly experienced and can work support your practice right away. Additionally, all virtual receptionists follow the necessary safeguards of The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

What are the benefits of medical answering services?

Implementing a medical answering service can significantly improve your contact with clients. They can ease the pressure of administrative tasks, allowing you to shift your focus to your patients. Here are the main benefits:

Keeping your calendar full

Thanks to the constant assistance that live virtual medical receptionists offer, no phone call will go unanswered. As a result, more patients are able to schedule appointments whenever they call.

Being available 24/7 for your patients

With help from the medical answering service, your practice can be reachable to clients well after the doors are closed for the day. Professional receptionists work from their home offices, located in every time zone in country. There is always someone to take your calls, even in times of weather disruptions, outages, or other emergencies.

Creating a professional and inviting environment

Virtual receptionists are often the first point of contact between the medical practice and patients. They can have a significant impact on clients’ decisions about booking an appointment. It is therefore crucial that the initial impression should be professional and empathetic to reassure patients that they will receive premium care at your office.

Running an efficient practice

The best medical answering services can be linked with many practical online tools, allowing you to run your office more efficiently than ever. You can use them to combine call information with your personal calendar, integrate your appointment-scheduling software, and much more.