How A Live Answering Service Can Help Your Medical Clinic

28 March 2016
 Categories: Business, Articles


If you are a doctor running a busy medical clinic, you have to play several roles. You have to wear a business owner hat as well as as your doctor's hat, and that doesn't even take into account your personal life. For the sake of achieving a work-life balance, you have to step away from the office once in awhile, but that doesn't mean your calls need to go to voicemail.

Instead, you can work with a live answering service. Here are the top five ways an answering service can help your medical clinic:

1. Live answering service prevents new patients from falling through the cracks.

New patients are key if you want to grow and expand your business, but unfortunately, when new customers call a business, 90 percent of them hang up if the call isn't answered. These patients may decide to call another clinic, and you may lose the chance at having their business forever. However, if you have a live answering service, this doesn't happen.

Rather, prospective patients reach the answering service, and a live person greets them. This individual is trained on your hours, your location and any other questions clients are likely to have. You control what information the answering service has access to and how you want them to handle your calls.

2. Answering services do more than just answer the phone.

A live answering service doesn't just answer the phone. They can also do other tasks. For example, they can forward calls to you upon your request. To make this possible, you can provide them with a list of numbers or names that you want forwarded to you.

The staff at the answering service can also schedule appointments for you. Now, instead of calling your office and hanging up when they don't reach anyone, prospective patients reach a live voice, and they schedule an appointment to see you.

Ultimately, working with a live answering service creates a shift in what happens when patients call you during off-hours, and this shift can ultimately turn into increased business and profits for your clinic.

3. Answering services engage existing clients.

An answering service doesn't just improve your chances with new clients. They also help to engage existing clients. Research shows that 82 percent of people will hang up the phone if they reach voicemail when calling a business. If you have an answering service, you never have to worry about your patients going to voicemail.

Instead, they can get their questions answered or make appoints through your answering service.

4. Answering services offer a range of special services.

When you hire a live answering service, you don't just get a one-size-fits-all product. Instead, you get to choose services that work for your needs. For example, as a medical provider, you may want an answering service that can handle the medical side of your calls.

This could be as simple as telling callers to call 911 in an emergency. It could involve telling patients with certain symptoms to call you directly. Finally, you can even work with a service that understands the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules, and this ensures your patient's' confidentiality.

5. Live answering services can handle overflow.

When you hire a live answering service, they don't just handle calls when your clinic is closed. They can also handle overflow. That helps your office staff focus on the patient in front of them.

For example, imagine your office attendant is speaking with a patient and scheduling a follow-up appoint. If the phone rings and your staff member answers it, that can feel rude or callous to the patient. However, the call can just roll over to the live answering service. They can handle it, and your staff can focus on what's happening in the office.

To learn more about how a live answering service can help your medical clinic, contact a live answering service like Security Services Northwest, Inc


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