Saturday, February 23, 2008

How Effective Is Your Answering Service?

When running a clinic or medical practice, efficiency can literally save you hundreds of dollars per week... and tens of thousands or more in a year. Getting a good medical answering service to work for you can give you this edge. However, with so many choices in phone answering services today, it can leave your head swimming with possibilities. It's actually quite simple. There are certain key factors that put some way above all the rest. So, before you invest in a call answering service, know what to look for:

24/7 Multiple capabilities

An efficient doctor answering service is able to perform one of several tasks at any given time. Whether it is being used as an after-hours medical receptionist or as a backup clinic receptionist during the busiest hours of the day, an efficient system should enable a caller to schedule an appointment, contact medical staff in case of an emergency, or leave a voice mail.

User-friendliness

A user-friendly physician answering service system is a pleasure to use, both for your patients and your staff. It encourages patients to call your office to schedule an appointment or make an inquiry, even when reaching an automated after office hours answering service. Staff members appreciate having more time to take care of other more pressing matters such as patient care and medical billing.

Free Online 24/7 Tech Support

A good virtual answering service will offer life time 24/7 technical support. No matter how user-friendly a system may be, your staff members who are only familiar with providing live answering services may feel intimidated or that they are not tech-savvy enough to work with an automated system. 24/7 support puts your staff at ease, knowing that they can get friendly and helpful support whenever they need it.

Choosing an a 24/7 medical answering service is easy, once you know which elements support maximum efficiency. Looking for a system with multiple capabilities, user friendliness and free online tech support are three major factors to consider. At the end of the year, an efficient answering message service could make the difference of thousands of dollars in retained revenue.

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