Today, we have a lot of answering services out there. Even as a medical practitioner, you can find a call answering service that will help you to respond to patients queries all the time. An answering call service provides an excellent channel to keep in touch with your patients around the clock. Hiring an answering service shows a great gesture. You show your patients that you care and ready to listen to them, even if they are not in the office to attend them.
Outsourcing your call answering service enables you to handle patients’ queries and needs on time. Additionally, you get the freedom to focus on other important activities that you may be having. Thus, it becomes an advantage to you and your patients. Now, finding the right answering service for your medical services is not easy. You need to do your homework well before deciding which company to choose from. So, how do you pick the right answering service for your patients?
Professionalism
Professionalism is key to every business. You would want to find an answering service that can offer a great level of care the same as your in-house personnel can do or much better. After all, it’s the reputation of your medical practice on the line. So, you should outsource from the best company. Such a company should have staff that is well trained on related medical terms and adheres to the company’s protocols.
Flexible coverage hours
An ideal answering service should be able to handle patients’ queries around the clock. Perhaps you may not see the need for an answering service during the working hours. But you can still count of it in case a situation arises especially during staff meetings, brakes, and lunches. Again, having an answering service frees up your administrative staff some of their duties, and enable them to focus on other valuable activities.
HIPAA compliance
HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. So, what does HIPAA has to do with call answering service? Now, some customers may provide some of their sensitive information during the call. The kind of information they would prefer to be kept confidential. That’s the reason why your answering service should be a HIPAA compliant. This is to ensure that they protect the information from anybody who is not legitimate to access it. Remember that you will be responsible for any breach committed by any of your business associates, including your call answering service.
Finding the right answering service for your patients is not easy. You need to do your homework well. Remember that medical services are not like any other business. You need a medical answering service that will respond to customers calls around the clock, with professionalism, keep their information private.