The Advantages of Using A Medical Answering Service
The need for health care doesn't end at 5:00 p.m
. Patients need care all the time, but it's impossible to keep an office open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Unless, of course, you make the decision as a physician or as an office manager to employ a medical answering service.
Answering services that are geared specifically towards the medical field can provide you with an "extension" of your office, and will give your patients a sense of security.
When using a medical answering service to handle your after-hours calls, your patients will receive the level of care they deserve because they will always be able to talk to a real person during any sort of medical issue or emergency. And you'll receive the benefits of knowing you were able to help a patient in their hour of need.
In general, a medical answering service functions in a similar way to a standard answering service. A patient calls in to your office after hours, and an operator answers the phone to help the patient. In a standard answering service, all the operator would be able to do would be to take patient's contact information and refer that to the on-call doctor.
However, in a medical answering service, the operators are trained in medical terminology and are able to discuss basic symptoms with the patient so they can accurately assess the level of care the patient needs, and refer all of that valuable information to the doctor. In addition, medical operators are HIPAA-trained, so they can handle your patient's sensitive personal information in a way that complies with privacy regulations.
If a patient's situation is serious, the medical answering service operator will call 911 for the patient. Otherwise, they will contact the on-call physician with the information they have gathered about the patient. This way, the doctor will have all the information he or she needs in order to make an accurate medical assessment before they even call the patient.
This type of service allows the doctor to provide a higher level of care to the patient.
A good medical answering service should:
* Focus solely on health care related calls
* Require that all operators undergo HIPAA training
* Use redundant phone carriers and back-up power to ensure constant accessibility
* Document and record every call to ensure accuracy and efficiency, as well as to provide a training tool for HIPAA training or other medical training
* Employ operators who are empathetic, good listeners, and good communicators
* Be able to assist with disaster recovery
* Customize a solution for every office or practice
* Offer custom reporting detailing the kinds of calls that were received and how they were handled
* Provide emergency messaging services
* Assist with appointment setting
* Offer service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The Advantages of Using A Medical Answering Service
By: Kurt Duncan
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