Our medical answering service clients trust us to provide services supported by fully trained agents. That being the case, we frequently get questions about federally mandated training. In other words, does the federal government require medical training for our agents?
Medical answering services are considered business associates under federal law. Because answering services do not provide any direct care, phone agents are not required to undergo any formal medical training. However, training in HIPAA regulations is mandatory.
Some Basic Medical Training
Medical answering service agents are strictly prohibited from providing any kind of medical advice over the phone. They are not allowed to diagnose conditions. They aren’t allowed to authorize prescription refills. Anything that falls under the purview of a clinician is out of bounds for telephone agents.
As such, no formal medical training is required to work as an agent at a medical answering service. But any reputable service will provide at least basic training in medical terminology and triage. Agents need to understand the basics of both in order to provide adequate assistance over the phone.
In addition to terminology and triage, agents are typically trained in both phone etiquette and handling emergency situations. A well-trained agent is comfortable taking any type of medical call. When circumstances warrant, an agent can quickly make the right decision and forward calls accordingly.
Mandated HIPAA Training
As business associates providing services to medical facilities, medical answering services are required to comply with all regulations under HIPAA. As you already know, certain provisions designed to protect patient privacy are built into the law. Telephone agents are required to comply with those provisions.
Though it might not seem like much to the untrained eye, HIPAA is rather extensive in its reach. There is a lot to know if a telephone agent hopes to maintain compliance. A reputable medical answering service would not leave that to chance, opting to thoroughly train agents instead.
If you are considering partnering with a medical answering service, you have every right to know whether the vendors you are considering properly train their agents in HIPAA compliance. Do not be afraid to ask about it.
Also know that healthcare facilities are ultimately responsible for HIPAA compliance as it relates to all their patients. You don’t want to take the fall for an answering service that does not train its employees properly. Make sure you don’t.
Additional Training as Needed
Medical and HIPAA are the big ones. They are the two types of training we are asked about most often. But employee training does not end with them. A reputable medical answering service will provide team members with additional training as needed.
For example, providing appointment scheduling services requires the use of specialized software and scheduling structures. All agents assigned to answer a facility’s calls would be trained in proper scheduling procedures.
Medical answering service agents or trained inaccurate message taking, message forwarding, call curating, and so forth. They are trained in how to communicate professionally and courteously at the same time.
Put Us to the Test
Here at Apello, we are extremely proud of our track record as a medical answering service. We are committed to always hiring the best possible agents and then ensuring that they are fully trained in every aspect of what we do.
If you are looking for a medical answering service, we invite you to put us to the test. Our years of experience and industry leading training will prove beneficial to your practice. Give us the opportunity to show you what the best medical answering service really looks like.
