There’s no room for error when you’re running an OB/GYN practice.
When the phone rings, someone has to answer, and you never know when the next call will be a patient going into labor or having other types of serious problems. Unfortunately, many OB/GYN practices aren’t available 24/7, making it hard for a patient to be sure they’ll get the care they need.
Answering Services Build Patient Trust
When a patient is in trouble or it’s “time,” you’ll want to have the peace of mind that an answering service brings. It’s a great compliment that the moment your patients are in trouble, you’re the only one on their mind. But if they call and get a voicemail system, disappointed and frustrated callers may hang up and start looking for a provider that will be available when they’re needed.
Even if you’re checking your voicemail religiously, there’s no way it can tell the difference between distressed callers and those who simply have a question after hours. You don’t have to choose between burnout and patient disappointment, though. Medical answering services can give your patients the attention they need without breaking your budget.
Here are a few services they can provide:
- Emergency Message Relay. You can’t be on call all the time, but your answering service can be armed with directions for handling after hours or other emergency callers.By following pre-designed workflows or asking provided questions, they can determine if your caller is experiencing a real emergency, in which case they’ll patch the call through to you or send a message to your phone, or if the caller can wait until the morning. Sometimes all an expectant parent needs is a little reassurance that what they’re experiencing is normal, your answering service can do this with a smile.
- Appointment Setting. Even if you have the best in-house staff possible, appointment setting can become a major distraction and even affect patient care. Instead of risking all that disruption, an answering service can take over your callers who are looking to make, change or cancel appointments. Dedicated answering service appointment setters can funnel off many of the calls that come through your telephone system, giving your in-house staff a little more room to breathe freely. Since they use software that’s compatible with what you’re already using, you can rest assured that the appointments set on the telephone won’t fall through the cracks or overlap appointments set in your office.
- Disaster Recovery. You never want to think that your office may experience a disaster, but these things happen, leaving your most vulnerable patients at high risk. Instead of just letting them wonder if you’ll be able to help them if they were to go into labor or experience other problems, you can arm your answering service with the latest information on your disaster recovery progress.For example, if your office was damaged in a serious storm, you could see patients elsewhere. Your answering service can make calls to alert patients to such changes or simply give them updates as your repairs are completed.
An answering service can be the perfect solution for OB/GYN practices looking for a little more help without the big bills associated with additional staff. By allowing an answering service to take more of your calls, you’re free to focus on the patients right in front of you.
