How to Choose A Medical Answering Service

Many doctors, dentists, optometrists, and other medical professionals have a medical answering service answer phone calls for them. Some medical offices have their answering service answer all of their incoming calls, while other offices only have calls answered after hours or at lunch. But regardless of the amount of calls that an office has a medical answering service answer, it is important that the calls are answered professionally, and that the messages are delivered promptly and accurately. It is the health of the patients that is on the line after all. Because of this, it is very important that a medical office is very careful when choosing an answering service. But how does a medical office know that a medical answering service is the right one?

Here are five aspects of a medical answering service that you need to evaluate before you hire them.

1. Obviously the most important aspect to look at is the customer service and professionalism of the operators employed at the answering service. These operators are going to be talking to your patients and relaying messages about their health to you. It is advisable to try a couple of test calls before you sign a contract to make sure that calls will be answered professionally and that messages will be delivered on time and accurately. Also, this gives you the opportunity to make sure that the operators are pronouncing everything right and that they are answering in the way that you want them to. Just like you would have to train a new receptionist, you will have to do a little bit of training and instruction with a new medical answering service.

2. Because of the litigious society that we live in, the way that an answering service handles information is another very important aspect when choosing a medical answering service. As a minimum, you need to make sure that the information is secure and that the service is HIPAA compliant.  You will also want to ask how the data is collected and stored, and you will want to ask if the operators are trained to follow those guidelines. The operators need to have proper training with regards to patient confidentiality.

3. While it is not unique to medical answering services, another consideration is the overall cost each month. Your costs are high enough in every other aspect of your practice, you don’t need another expense. But, as with any other kind of service, you can’t choose the least expensive option and expect it to offer great service. So you have to weigh the costs and the benefits of the service and choose the level of cost and service that you feel comfortable with and that you think will satisfy your patients. Most answering services, and all of the good ones, are willing to work with you to come up with a package that is right for your practice. They will include only the services that you need and none that you don’t, to make sure that you are not paying for anything that you will not use.

4. As with anything technology related, medical answering services are only as good as the technology that they employ. Anything computer related will have service outages. It is how the answering service handles those outages that separate the great services from the mediocre ones. What happens if the power goes down? Are messages backed up? How often do they have problems with their technology? Medical offices are often very busy and the call volume can be very high. This means that in order to make sure that your patients are handled promptly and professionally, the medical answering service must have the right technology in place. You could also possibly look into a customized service for answering calls in the office. This will enable you to maintain professional service to your clients and ensure on-time response for their needs.

5. Customer service is the key to any business, and your practice is no different. I am sure that you train your receptionists to handle calls in a specific manner, and you expect your patients to be treated very well. You need to have those same expectations with an answering service. When an operator answers your phone, they are representing your practice. So, you will want to make sure that the operators are friendly and professional, and that they have some knowledge of what it is that you do. Make sure that the answering service that you are looking at has some other medical clients. You want to make sure that the vocabulary that your patients use will be familiar and that they will be able to spell it correctly when they are relaying the message to you.

Finding The Right Medical Answering Service

Finding the right medical answering service can be difficult, but it is very important that you find one that will meet your expectations and serve your customers in the way that you expect. It might take a little bit more research along the way, but with something as important as your patients’ health, isn’t it worth the extra effort to make sure that you choose the right medical answering service?