The bulk of calls you get if you run a doctor’s or dentist’s office will inquire about making appointments. If you feel that this task sacrifices a lot of time from you or your staff, you can certainly benefit with the services of a medical answering service.
A medical answering service can be a good thing for medical officials who have their own businesses. The most monumental thing to waste at work is time, and with a medical answering service helping you throughout the day, you can not only save time, but gain more productivity and reduce the likeliness of no shows.
Your office is likely busy around the clock, but with medical answering services, here are several ways in which your staff could greatly benefit:
1. Better Use of Time
As you can tell, there are patients that call your office from morning to evening to enquire about making an appointment. At the same time, patients are likely waiting to see you and need to fill out forms. Your receptionist and other workers cannot handle all this work at once, so an answering service would certainly help to lighten their workload so that your staff can focus on their primary tasks.
2. Reduce the Amount of No-Shows
A medical answering service can also reduce the likelihood of patients not showing up for their appointments. An answering service can help do this because there will always be somebody there to call your patients or answer the phone when a patient will call. Also, receptionists won’t have to browse the calendar and take much time to see what dates and appointments can be rescheduled to. If the patient cannot be reached, then the appointment cannot take place, but an answering service can help to prevent no-shows from happening.
3. Appointments Can Be Booked More Conveniently
One of the best benefits to an answering service is for them to be able to work any time of day, even at night, when you are out of the office. They can book appointments for you, even in the middle of the night, so that you or your staff won’t have to officiate any chances in your schedule. You can simply refer to your schedule, anticipate your patients to show up at the right times, and they will. This will also prevent your office from having to read voicemail every morning about booking appointments and having to call them back at times in which they may be at work.
4. Encourage More Follow-Up Appointments
Once appointments are finished, it is often encouraged for patients to make follow-up appointments so they are ready the next time they come to see you. For many medical facilities, doctors will need to get back to patients regarding test results, but with medical answering services, they can not only tell your patients their test results for you, but also ask about any follow-up appointments if they need them.
With medical answering services, you can spend less time on the phone with patients, less time listening to voicemail, and less time tracking patients down in regards to rescheduling. This can also benefit your bottom line as patients will be pleased with the support that you provide. More medical facilities are taking advantage of what answering services offer, and you could be next to benefit.