Our Health doesn’t always wait for office hours. You can deal with illness or injury at any time of the day or night. It’s almost impossible to predict when you’re going to be dealing with some kind of medical emergency. Many people try to avoid surprise doctors visits by making all appointments and filling medication prior to the holidays. There are many times when things simply go wrong, and we need to reach medical professionals regardless of the time of year. Unfortunately, during times like Christmas and other major holidays, many doctors go on vacations. It’s not like after hours when they are usually available or in the surrounding area. They may actually be gone, and it’s important that you know what to do when this happens in case of an emergency. Due to the scarcity of healthcare during major holidays, your doctor will probably leave alternate instructions for their emergency patients. This is where an answering service can become extremely important.
Getting sick over the holidays isn’t just inconvenient, it can be downright dangerous. This is especially true for people that suffer from chronic illness or who need constant contact with their doctor. This happens with people who require close monitoring or who have medical conditions that make them unstable. Over the holidays, these people can face even more difficulties trying to receive the medical care that they need. It’s a good idea for anyone who suffers from a chronic condition to have access to their own medical records. This way, if they need to seek emergency care they have their records on hand. This cuts back on the time it takes to get organized before they can start receiving treatment.
Many responsible physicians hire a medical call center to receive and direct phone calls while they’re out of the office. They can leave call center specific instructions with where to direct certain patients. This means that they will already have sent over any pertinent information to the doctor that’s filling in for them. When a patient phones into the call center, the trained professionals can then transfer them to the doctor who should already have their information and be prepared to treat them. This cuts out a huge amount of confusion and treatment delay.
The other options for emergency care over the holidays include things like urgent care and actual emergency rooms. Emergency rooms are often overloaded during certain seasons. This is because doctors aren’t necessarily available, and patients turn to the only place where they can get treatment. Unfortunately, many urgent care facilities end up completely overwhelmed and have a difficult time treating people that might require a more delicate level of care.
Using an answering service or call center can stop high-priority patients from falling through the cracks and having to endure severe discomfort or medical emergencies. Using a trusted answering service can allow patients to call in and to have their emergencies immediately taken care of by a specialist to understand exactly what it is that they need. Oftentimes, their regular care doctor will have already contacted the specialist and made them aware of potential calls over the holiday season.
Taking these types of precautions show just how considerate and involved these physicians are. Working with an answering service or with the call center is one of the best things that any doctor’s office can do for their clients. Giving them constant access to the medical care that they need is the greatest gift of all this holiday season. Finding a specialized answering service is as easy as an Internet search. Consider contacting one for your day-to-day activities, or next time you plan on being out of the office for an extended period of time.