Medical answering services, like Apello, heavily use scripts to ensure that phones are answered according to each client’s needs and standards. The scripts essentially act as an instruction manual to the operator. Calls are handled in the most efficient way possible.
As a clinician, a properly developed script can benefit you in countless ways. Here is just one: you won’t be woken unnecessarily in the middle of the night by a call that doesn’t represent a legitimate emergency. By following the script, the operator can properly triage the call. You are not disturbed.
What does a medical answering service script look like? It is impossible to provide a detailed example, but most scripts contain the following elements:
1. A Professional Greeting
Every caller hears a professional greeting. The operator identifies the doctor’s name or the name of the practice. She also identifies herself by name and asks how she can assist. Just through the greeting, a caller should be confident that they are dealing with a professional.
2. Triage-related Questions
The next element consists of a series of questions and potential answers designed to help the operator triage the call in question. Triage is the process of sorting inquiries based on urgency and need. In our industry, there are three triage categories:
- Life-Threatening Emergency (Category A) – Life-threatening emergencies are scenarios in which a caller is reporting symptoms like chest pain, severe shortness of breath, confusion and other signs of a potential stroke, excessive bleeding, etc.
- Urgent Medical Issue (Category B) – Urgent medical issues include things like allergic reactions, acute pain, feverish, and complications following surgery. These are issues for which the operator may want to contact the doctor.
- Routine Issue (Category C) – Routine issues are those that can wait until the office reopens. They include things like billing questions, non-urgent prescription refills, appointment cancelations, and so forth. The operator can take a message and forward it to office staff.
In a life-threatening emergency, a fully trained operator would advise the caller to immediately hang up and go to the emergency room. Meanwhile, she would immediately contact the doctor to inform them of what is going on.
3. Handling Instructions
The third element is a set of instructions detailing how the operator should handle certain types of scenarios. For example, a caller might be looking to refill a prescription. The proper way to handle it would we to send an email or voice message to the doctor’s office. The operator would also advise the patient to call his or her pharmacy.
Handling instructions are important because different types of calls required different responses. An operator needs to know how an office wants each scenario handled so that there is no confusion in the moment.
4. Escalation Procedures
In the event an operator must directly contact a doctor or send a message, a script needs to include escalation procedures – just in case the doctor does not respond. Typically, scripts deal with first contact, no responses after 15 and 30 minutes, and instructions for moving forward if there is no response at all.
5. A Professional Closing
Finally, a medical answering service script usually includes a professional closing. The operator thanks the caller, assures the caller that everything has been documented, and advises the caller of anything else he or she needs to do.
Phone scripts are the lifeblood of a medical answering service. As the client, you determine what your scripts look like. We are here to act on your behalf. Therefore, we can answer the phones in any way you deem appropriate.
