In many ways, a medical answering service provides the same service as an excellent medical receptionist. Successful medical practices realize that patients need to be greeted in a timely, and courteous manner. Patients who wait too long, are disconnected, or otherwise frustrated when they try to reach out for help, will go elsewhere. Medical professionals are very concerned with patient retention rates, and new patient referrals. Medical answering services can provide huge benefits to both medical personnel and their patients. Following are some

important tips to consider if you are planning on hiring a medical answering service.

1. Determine Answering Services Needed

The nature of responding to medical calls is very different than answering calls for other businesses. Many patients call when they are experiencing pain, fear, or other forms of real distress. Before hiring a medical answering service, find out the following:

Call Answering Procedures

The majority of callers hang up if their call isn’t answered promptly. Not only should calls be picked up on the first ring, the voice that reaches them should be warm, welcoming, and knowledgeable. Medical answering services should provide agents who are highly trained and certified by the Association of TeleServices International (ATSI), which provides validation that agents are proficient, and professional when receiving and delivering messages. The top medical answering services continuously educate, monitor, and evaluate their call agents to ascertain high quality standards are being met. Patients

should not be forced to respond to a confusing menu of options before reaching a live person on the phone.

Established Emergency Call Protocols

Basic answering services are not prepared to respond to emergency calls. Experienced medical answering services will have set procedures for responding to emergency calls, whenever they occur. Calls can be immediately rerouted to your place of preference, by phone, text, or email.

Nurse Triage Availability

Nurse triage packages allow patient calls to be routed to a registered nurse anytime, day or night. Nurses are able to counsel patients on basic medical concerns, need to see a doctor, or advise them to go to an emergency room.

2. Use of Sophisticated Technology

Medical answering services should have the capability of taking calls every day of the year, 24/7, and also be able to handle call spikes. You should be able to choose how your messages are forwarded to you, including:

  • Phone
  • Text
  • Pager
  • Email
  • Fax

Advanced technology now allows on-call scheduling which provides superior accuracy in reaching the right people when needed. Services should also have a backup power system to eliminate critical emergency situations in times of power outages.

3. Determine Call Service Budget

Phone answering services generally charge a fee per call or by the minute. Billing by the minute is considered “time sensitive” billing, and has some advantages over being billed for each call. Per minute costs can vary.

Detailed reports are provided that specify average call durations.

It is important to know that at Answer One, we work with a variety of budgets to help meet our the needs of the medical community.

A medical answering service can provide huge, cost saving benefits to medical professionals. Best of all, patients get to talk to a live person who shows concern, and efficiently gets them where they need to go.