You have been reading up on medical answering services. You think an answering service might be good for your practice but are not sure. You have questions. Well, we have the answers. Please do not hesitate to contact our team. You want to set your mind at ease so that you can make an informed decision about answering services.
In the meantime, we have put together a list of medical answering service FAQs, along with their answers. These are questions we get all the time. If they are similar to the questions you have, our answers will hopefully give you some clarity.
1. Are answering services appropriate for small offices?
This first question is one we get so frequently that it would be hard for us to keep track of the number of times we answered. In a word, yes. Forget the longstanding belief that medical answering services are only appropriate for large healthcare groups, hospitals, and so forth. Even the smallest private practices can realize tremendous benefits by turning calls over to an answering service.
2. Are services limited to after-hours needs?
It is pretty common for medical offices and clinics to utilize answering services only after-hours. In other words, in the evenings and on weekends. But rest assured that you are not limited to after-hours service. We have plenty of medical clients that utilize our answering services 24/7. The benefits are numerous, including not having to deal with the overhead involved in maintaining an on-site call center.
3. Can medical answering services be personalized?
We believe personalization is important to communication. Therefore, we make it a priority. We personalize medical answering services on multiple levels. From the patient’s perspective, we can personalize greetings and service options to streamline the experience. From the clinic’s perspective, personalization touches everything from when calls are answered, how messages are handled, how calls are prioritized, in so forth.
4. How expensive are medical answering services?
The big thing for so many clients is cost. We get it. Clinics and small practices are afraid of spending too much on medical answering services. It is impossible to provide a black-and-white price in a blog of this nature, but we can tell you that most of our clients actually save money by letting us answer the phones for them.
Savings are realized by not having to maintain infrastructure and overhead. Clients also don’t have to hire their own staff, which automatically reduces labor expenses. When you consider how much it costs to handle the phones in-house, professional medical answering services are cost efficient.
5. Can an answering service do more than take messages?
Some of the reluctance to invest in medical answering services is rooted in the belief that a service can do nothing more than take messages. Fortunately, we can do a lot more. A modern medical answering service is capable of offering triage, forwarding high priority calls, scheduling appointments, sending follow-up reminders, and so much more.
6. Will patients know that I’m using an answering service?
Whether or not patients know they are dealing with an answering service is a tricky question. It really depends on the service and how well operators do their jobs. Here at Apello, we don’t look at it in terms of trying to disguise anything. Rather, we want your patients to receive such excellent service that the question never enters their minds.
If you have questions about medical answering services and whether they are appropriate for your office, contact Apello. We not only have the answers, but we also have a service we believe you will be pleased with.
