6 Reasons a Doctor should Hire Medical Answering Services

Running a full-fledged clinic is not an easy job. As a doctor, you have to look after many other things than just treating patients. To run a medical center effectively, you need perfect coordination between the front staff, doctor and the back-staff operations. A doctor cannot single-handedly manage all of the tasks. So, hiring a med answering service is the best solution to run your medical practice smoothly. You can also get dedicated staff to do the job but outsourcing your medical answering calls is a better option.

What is a med answering service?
Get a Medical answering service, and they will take care of your incoming calls and provide the best customer service. It adheres to the HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) standards and is a legal service for medical practitioners. This a call center service which takes care of your patients’ calls and make your clients feel like they are talking to an in-house receptionist. 
If you are not sure whether you need a med answering service or no, check the following points:

• 1.Does your voicemail get full with your client’s call and you are unable to attend them all? 
• 2.Do you get calls in the middle of the night but they aren’t emergency situations?
• 3.Do you have one staff member only who handles your calls and helps you as well?
• 4.Are you short-staffed but can’t afford to hire any more people?
• 5.Do you want someone to filter your emergency and non-emergency client calls?
• 6.Do you find it stressful to pay your in-house receptionist who is not available to answer off duty calls?

If you have a ‘yes’ to most of these questions, you should consider hiring a med answering service as it has a lot more benefits.
1.The Service is Available 24 Hours
A receptionist is assigned to answer your incoming calls. She is also trained to answer basic medical questions of the patient and help them with an immediate solution. Without a med service, it is impossible for a doctor to attend his patient’s calls in the middle of the night. A med answering machine, on the other hand, takes all your client’s calls which keeps them happy and satisfied.
2.Taking Messages
A medical answering service first captures information from the calls and then forwards you. The answering service will also help you segregate calls into different categories. Not all calls that are made to the doctor are urgent. So, it’s the receptionist’s job at the call center to escalate the very urgent calls and record other cases that can be tackled later.

3.The Service will Manage all your Appointments
It’s not a doctor’s job to attend to client’s calls and make appointments. A live receptionist at the med answering service will take care of your appointments and also if there are any modifications later. While a med answering service answers your client calls, you can focus more on your practice and look for ways to grow your business. 
4.Excellent Customer Service
The call center med receptionists are trained to attend to the clients in a friendly way. Sometimes when a patient calls in an emergency state, they usually panic. If the receptionist listens to their problem and is able to calm them down, the clients will always remember that. Unlike an in-house receptionist who does a very mechanical job of taking down the message and provide no comfort to the clients, hiring a medical answering service will be warm and friendly towards the patient. If the doctor is not available during the hours, the live receptionist will be honest about it without being rude. 
 
5.It Helps you Save Money
While money is time for a doctor, you should focus on saving it as much as possible. When you hire staff to answer the calls and to assist you with the practice in the clinic, it could increase your monthly expenses. But, a med answering service will save that amount and also give you the best service. Whether it is handling calls, filtering messages or talking to the clients, all jobs are done hassle-free when you hire a messenger service. 
 
6.Gives you Time to Expand your Business
When you hire a med answering service to handle your call traffic, you cause your in-house staff for more productive things. You can train them to help you assist the patients in the clinic and educate them about different medicines and equipment used in the clinic. This will only help you grow your business and ensure no patient is missed. The call centres take care of your patients before they come to you. This is a very cost-effective solution to provide the best customer service. The money you save could be used in buying a bigger space for your clinic or buying better and advanced medical equipment.