Doctors can’t be in two places at once, so that’s why having a doctor answering service is vital to conducting their business and taking care of their patients. An answering service allows people to leave messages and get advice or contact their doctor in the case of an emergency 24-hours a day, seven days a week, all year long.
However, when choosing a doctor answering service you must take several things into consideration in order to get the best possible services for your patients and staff. There are several different kinds of answering services to choose from, including automated, live, Internet based, and call centers. Here are the differences and data on each of these.
Automated doctor answering service Requires No “Real” Person
If you choose an automated answering service it has prerecorded answers to typical questions, like press one if you want our business hours, press 2 to find out how to get to our clinic, or press 3 to hear our directory.
However, since most people prefer talking to a real person. Also, this kind of doctor answering service couldn’t help someone in an emergency in real time, you may want to consider one of the other types. An Internet based answering service could be either automated or live, it all depends on the company you hire.
Live Answering Services Work in Real Time
A live doctor answering service works right when the caller needs to talk to a real person. They can readily transfer someone to emergency services, connect them to a real doctor, etc.
A call center version of an answering service is likely also live, the difference is that there are many different operators to answer the calls, and there could be special operators to handle certain problems.
Other Things to Consider When Hiring Answering Services
Some of the other things to keep in mind when choosing an answering service is their costs, their expertise in your field, experience, and to make sure they are HIPAA compliant so your patient’s data is kept secure. You also want them to have the most current and up to date gear so they will be the most efficient.
So, if you are a medical clinic or office and need a doctor answering service, then consider your needs and the needs of your patients, and you will be well on your way to being able to answer calls at all times.
