When it comes to after-hours answering services for your practice, a prompt and effective system is a must. While live call centers have their benefits, sometimes the pros can unfortunately outweigh the cons. When it comes to patient satisfaction and privacy, a virtual physicians answering service might be the best choice you can make. Read on for three big ways that your practice can benefit from a virtual service:
Customization and Efficiency
Your service can be customized exactly to your liking, down to the message that your patients hear when they call. Patients will have the option to choose immediately whether the call is a normal call or an emergency, and you will be notified accordingly. The patients leave their own messages, which adds much greater accuracy to the information you receive. When it comes to live call centers, sometimes communication might not be the best or important information is overlooked. But with a virtual service, you’ll hear the patient’s own message, and you’ll also have the option to receive transcripts.
Better Privacy for All
At any practice, HIPAA compliance is of the utmost importance. The problem with live call centers is that sometimes, the handling of information is not compliant, which can result in fines and big issues for your practice. For example, messages written or taken by the operators may be visible to others, or they may share patient’s personal information in other ways. Additionally, a live call center may make your patients feel uncomfortable with giving the full amount of information on whatever health problem they are having. Not everyone wants to tell a live strange on the phone about personal health issues.
On the other side of the coin, a virtual answering service keeps your privacy protected, as well. If you need to give a patient a callback in an emergency, you can opt to do it through the service. This will protect your personal contact information, and eliminates the need to block your caller ID. Patients can be assured that they’ll be called back by the service, except this time, you’ll be on the line.
It Saves You Money
Live call centers can get costly, as they are staffed with employees who need to be paid, and they also sometimes charge by the message. A virtual service will charge you a flat fee per month, no matter how much it’s used.
Your practice and your patients can really benefit from the switch to a virtual answering service. Find a service with a free trial and see if your patient’s level of satisfaction begins to rise. Either way, a virtual service in an arguably superior choice over live call centers.
No More Phone Tag offers virtual answering services so that your patients can always reach you when they need you the most. Contact us today for more information.
