How Answering Services Benefit Physician Practices

receptionist at a doctor's office answering the phone
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Patients often use the phone for questions and medical emergencies. A physician’s office takes as many calls as they can, but a lot of them go to voicemail. Of course, every physician’s office wants to offer quality care to all of their patients but there are only so many calls a receptionist can handle. Instead of trying to hire enough staff to handle all these calls, the best solution to this dilemma is using a professional medical answering service. 

Benefits of Medical Answering Services

Decreased waiting time for patients

Once your patient’s called, they’re automatically redirected and filtered to a call center where all of their information is taken and uploaded directly to your office’s system. This allows your office to address the patient’s needs in a timely fashion. Being able to say goodbye to long waits and after-hours communication is a real plus for patients.

Save money 

When you use a medical answering service, you save on employee expenses. Instead of having to hire a receptionist to take your calls, you can have the answering service do it. This means not having to worry about calculating taxes, providing benefits, vacation and sick days, and more. You can get 24/7 service from a professional medical answering service and only pay for the time used. The medical answering service can easily be your office’s sole point of contact.

HIPAA compliant

A physician’s office can also decrease its liability with a medical answering service. All of the records are accurate and in compliance with Medicare, HIPAA, and other government agencies. By reducing liability, you can save thousands of dollars. Patient privacy is critical and is highly regulated by the government. A HIPAA medical answering service will closely guard all of your patients’ information. This way, you can trust them with all of your patient records and not have to be concerned about any violations.

Expect the unexpected

An answering service for physicians also helps you prepare for unexpected disasters. Things like power outages, pandemics, and hurricanes can cause you to have to close your office but an offsite answering service can continue to operate regardless. Medical answering services can help you keep the lines open for both your employees and your patients, providing convenience and peace of mind. With an answering service, your office will be prepared for any local disaster.

All of these benefits help create a better patient experience. You’ll be decreasing the time patients have to wait for a response from your office. Your patients will be able to communicate with your office any time for help or to have their questions answered. There will also be less stress on your employees. You’ll also find that your office will operate much more efficiently with a medical answering service.

If you’d like to learn more about our medical answering services, contact Answer United today.