When businesses take a close look at today's economic indicators, it becomes apparent that there is a serious need to cut expenditures. In addition, it also becomes obvious that one cannot afford to lose business by failing to meet the needs of its clients. This is true in any sector of business, be it retail, legal or medical. For example, losing a patient to another physician's practice due to poor availability or other communication issues is unacceptable. This is one of the reasons that more doctor's offices are beginning to consider using a live answering service to meet their patient's needs.
But the first question that every office manager asks is whether a live answering service will actually serve to lower office costs. In truth, the answer to this question is readily available just by looking at the facts. First of all, is it conceivable that an office might lose a patient if that patient is unable to contact the doctor during office after hours? Of course, the answer is a resounding "yes". Doctor loyalty will only go so far if that doctor is not available when needed. Secondly, is it cost effective to prevent this situation by hiring a full-time in-house staff member? Well, considering the expense of running an office 24/7 or having a satellite answering setup and I'm sure you can see that this is not the best way to handle the situation.
So, when considering a specialized physician's live answering service, here are some specific advantages that they can offer:
Family Practice Physicians
In a medical family practice, the first determination is whether or not the situation is an emergency. A trained specialist with a live answering service can ask the right question and help calm someone who may be in a state of panic. That specialist can then forward the call to the right location.
Pediatrician's Practice
A pediatrician can receive a high volume of calls that require specific notations regarding the age of the child and the symptoms exhibited. This is something that may not be effectively accomplished with an answering machine. In case of an emergency, if a parent reaches a machine, they would most likely call another doctor's office. A live answering service will eliminate this concern.
Cardio and Internal Medicine Specialists
Gastroenterologists, cardiologists and internal specialists will also require call answering protocols for answering-service agents to follow, without exception. This means that, as with other specialized medicine answering agents, there must be careful screening and training of the live answering service technicians.
It can be easy to see that a live answering service can, in effect, be quite cost effective when considering patient care and retention.
