We know that regular checkups are in important part of taking care of our physical health. We also check in with our financial advisor and do periodic oil changes on our car.
In the same manner it’s wise to have seasonal checkups with your medical answering service to make sure they’re ready to serve you and your patients in the best possible way. As summer ends and we move into fall, now is a great time to schedule a checkup with your answering service.
Here are some things to consider
Staff Changes
Over time employees come and go. Healthcare providers join your practice or clinic, while support staff may arrive and depart on a regular basis. With all that’s involved in onboarding new members to your team, as well as saying goodbye, it’s a lot of details to keep track of.
In addition to changes in staffing, a related issue is changes in roles. Employees may take on new assignments or move into new positions, with new responsibilities.
Letting your answering service know about these changes often gets overlooked, but they need up-to-date information to properly handle your calls and represent you appropriately to your patients.
Review your employee roster and their duties with your answering service to help them better help you and your patients. Don’t leave your answering service in the dark.
Update Contact Information
Another thing that changes is contact information. Employees may get a new home phone or cell number. Perhaps alternate forms of contact have changed. An answering service that doesn’t have the right information or accurate numbers to reach your staff will encounter roadblocks as they work for you.
As you review your employee list with your answering service, doublecheck all contact information that they have to make sure it’s current.
Key Practice Details
Did you change your hours? Did your office move or add a location? Check to make sure your answering service knows. Too often no one communicates this to your answering service, and they’re still giving patients your old information. Also look at what your answering service has listed for alternate phone numbers for your office, as well as your main email address, fax number, and private line.
New Call-Handling Protocols?
In the ever-changing healthcare environment, our processes must adapt with it, striving to best respond to evolving conditions and expectations. Make sure your medical answering service knows about your preferred call-handling protocols. If they’re operating under old instructions that no longer apply, it will be hard for them to do the job you want them to.
This includes defining what constitutes an urgent call, what’s referred to the ER, and what can wait for the office in the morning. Related to this is on-call procedures. Is your answering service operating under your current expectations? You can avoid a lot of frustration for yourself, your staff, and your answering service when you verify that the instructions you once gave them are still what you want them to follow.
Conclusion
Now is a great time to schedule a checkup with your medical answering service to make sure they’re aware of staff changes and how to reach them, know the correct information about your practice, and have up-to-date instructions on how you want your calls handled.
Don’t wait for a problem to occur to prod you to review the information and instructions your answering service has. If you and they are operating under different parameters, frustration will result. And no one wants that.
Now is a great time for a checkup with your medical answering service.
Learn how medical answering service from MedConnectUSA can help your practice, clinic, or facility. Then get a free quote to discover how affordable their healthcare communication services are. Peter Lyle DeHaan is a freelance writer and call center authority.
