As a dentist with a growing dental practice, you know the importance of keeping an open line of communication with your patients and potential patients. Though much of the work you do happens during regular business hours, that doesn’t mean you should only answer your phone then. The smart move is to answer your phone 24/7, whenever your patients want to call.
Though this can be expensive and a burden for you and your staff to attempt to answer your office phone around-the-clock, you can easily and cost-effectively achieve this 24/7 coverage by hiring a telephone answering service to take your calls.
However, not just any answering service will do. To have the best results you need one that dedicates itself to the healthcare industry. You need a medical answering service. Here’s why your dental practice will benefit when you hire a medical answering service:
They Understand Healthcare
Dentistry is an important part of the healthcare industry, so the best selection of an answering service is one that has an exclusive focus on healthcare: a medical answering service. They understand the healthcare industry, have vast experience serving healthcare providers, and know how to treat your callers—both patients and prospective patients—right.
They Are HIPAA Compliant
As a healthcare provider, you fall under HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) regulations. This not only covers what you do in your office, but it also applies to what your answering service does for you. Did you know you are responsible if they don’t follow HIPAA requirements? That’s why it’s critical for you to select a medical answering service that understands HIPAA and takes it seriously. Your practice and your patients’ well-being are at risk if you disregard HIPAA.
They Have Experience Dealing with Patients
Medical answering services talk with patients all day long. That’s all they do. As a result, they have vast experience communicating with patients, understanding the types of needs they have, and knowing the right way to respond to them. This is hard to achieve from an answering service that accepts any type of account. Do you really want your patient with a throbbing toothache treated like a customer who calls their plumber with a leaking faucet? Of course not. But that’s exactly what you can expect from a general-purpose answering service. And that’s why you need a medical answering service instead.
They Can Take Appointments 24/7
To maximize your productivity and the profitability of your practice, you know you need to keep your appointment calendar full. What you may not know is that your medical answering service can help you do this. By having secure access into your appointment scheduling program, they can take appointments for you 24/7. If someone remembers at midnight that they want to schedule an appointment, your answering service can handle that call.
And beyond taking appointments, they can also confirm appointments for you to reduce no-shows. They can call, email, or text your patients to remind them of their upcoming appointment. Not only does this greatly reduce no-shows, it also provides a better opportunity for you to be aware of cancellations ahead of time and have a greater chance of filling them. Your full-service medical answering service can do all this for you.
Summary
When it comes to selecting an answering service for your dental practice, don’t go with a low-cost provider or pick a generic answering service. Instead go with a medical answering service that understands healthcare, is HIPAA compliant, and has experience dealing with patients. As a bonus they can take appointments for you 24/7 and work to help reduce no-shows.
The benefits of hiring a medical answering service for your dental practice are great, just as are the risks of not hiring one.
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.