When patients need to contact their physician, they expect a few things. The person answering the phone needs to show professionalism and kindness. Additionally, physicians must be able to address the needs of their patients at just about any time, day or night. Having 24/7 availability is difficult with a traditional receptionist. Fortunately, a physician answering service can provide an open channel for your patients to contact your business!
5 Signs That Your Medical Practice Needs a Physician Answering Service
No matter the size of your clinic or hospital, you probably need to manage a lot of patients. As your business grows, this will inevitably lead to more human errors. If these errors become too frequent, your business could suffer. So, let’s take a look at 5 signs it’s time to hire a physician answering service:
1. You frequently play phone tag
Playing phone tag means that you and your patients simply cannot connect by phone. Your patient calls your office and it goes to voicemail. You try to return their call, but you’re sent to voicemail as well. This is common if you only answer the phone during business hours and it can be frustrating for both parties. A live, 24/7 virtual receptionist solves this problem by answering the phone on the first ring.
2. You struggle to maintain office staff
Being a receptionist is not an easy job, especially in the healthcare industry. Perhaps the position has a high rate of turnover for your business or maybe you struggle to maintain the ongoing costs of a full-time receptionist. Either way, a physician answering service has you covered. You don’t need to worry about employees getting burnt out or failing to fulfill their duties. Additionally, you will save a great deal of money.
3. Your patients miss appointments on a regular basis
Sometimes patients fail to make it to an appointment. Things come up and they may not have time to notify your office or try to reschedule. However, a 24/7 receptionist service takes the responsibility for missed appointments off of your shoulders. With a physician answering service, your office is always available to take calls and cancel or reschedule appointments.
4. You’re short on time
As you undoubtedly already know, medical professionals are busy. You may not have time to manage receptionist services or screen calls on your own. Fortunately, you can outsource your call screening to a third-party company without sacrificing the quality of your services.
5. You need to cut costs
Receptionists play an important role for physicians. However, in-house receptionists can get expensive, especially if you hire a receptionist with a full-time salary plus benefits. If you need to cut costs, a physician answering service is a great solution.
What are the Benefits of Doctor Answering Services?
Every physician or medical professional needs a point of contact to take messages, schedule appointments, and provide basic instructions to patients before and after a medical visit. In the past, this was all managed by one or more in-house receptionists. However, that’s starting to change. With medical answering services, you get all of the following benefits:
24/7 Live Service
Knowing that your doctor’s office can pick up the phone at any time is a huge relief for patients. It not only helps with appointment scheduling, but it also shows that your business cares about patient welfare. A physician answering service means that you’ve got trained virtual receptionists ready to answer every call on behalf of your business. You won’t have to worry about playing “phone tag” or missing urgent calls ever again.
Trained Virtual Receptionists
You can hire an in-house receptionist, but they may not be trained in the medical field. With Nexa, you get a receptionist that has all of the standard skills of a traditional receptionist — plus a working knowledge of the medical industry. For example, Nexa’s medically trained receptionists understand which questions they can and can’t ask patients, what information they can share over the phone, and other important aspects of working alongside medical professionals.
Streamlined Appointment Scheduling
When you work with a high-quality call answering service like Nexa, you don’t have to worry about miscommunications or unorganized scheduling. Nexa has a system in place to schedule appointments that can work seamlessly with your existing scheduling process. This way, you don’t need to do a complete overhaul of anything. You can simply allow Nexa to streamline your scheduling process for you.
Reduced Overhead
Keeping a full or part-time receptionist on the payroll can eat into your budget. Additionally, if you want to provide 24/7 service, you’ll need to have a team of receptionists on a rotating schedule. When evaluating the costs of doing this, you’ll need to consider the cost of training, onboarding, and maintaining one or more in-house receptionists. With Nexa, you get a professional, 24-hour receptionist at a fraction of the cost. For more information on pricing, consult Nexa’s Plan Page.
Find a Physician Answering Service for Your Business
If you’re a medical professional who wants to cut costs, streamline your appointment scheduling, improve customer service, and add a personal and professional touch to your business, there’s no better choice than Nexa.
So, are you ready to hire a physician answering service with Nexa? If you have any questions left about our Dr. answering service, do not hesitate to get in touch by filling out the form at the top of the page!
Additionally, you can consult the Nexa Medical Services Page to find more information about our answering service for doctors’ offices, including case studies, testimonials, pricing, and more!
