As you look forward to the future, now is the time—more so than ever before—to think strategically. Look at the business model for your healthcare organization and consider what you can change to produce better and more effective outcomes. Do this throughout your organization, optimizing every department and process.
As you do so don’t overlook your dependable healthcare call center. Yes, they’ve served you with excellence for years. You appreciate what they do, and your business depends on them. Let’s build on this history of success.
Ask yourself, and ask them, what more they can do for you. Be strategic. The more communication work you can offload to your call center, the more you free up you and your staff to focus on your core healthcare business.
Here are some things to consider when it comes to the work your call center does for you:
More Hours
How many hours a day or hours a week does your call center answer calls for you? Look to increase the scope of their telephone coverage. To start with, have them answer calls every hour of the week that you aren’t open. Some organizations fail to do this. They write off third shift calls as being insignificant. They may do the same for weekend calls or on holidays.
Also look at what calls they can take for you when your office is open. Does 24/7 call center coverage make sense for your business? For many organizations it does.
More Calls
Can you send more telephone calls to your healthcare call center? They may presently cover your main telephone line, ordering line, or customer service helpdesk. Those are all ideal places to start. Now consider other types of calls your answering service can handle for you.
Look at departments that take their own calls and see if it makes sense to offload some or all those calls to your call center. Looking to launch a new healthcare service or new product line? Be sure to factor your call center into your plans.
More Types of Communication
Though it’s called a call center, today’s advanced healthcare call centers can handle more than telephone calls. Think of contacts instead of calls. Consider text messaging, email support, and social media monitoring. These are three additional areas to consider besides the venerable phone call.
Do you have a communication need beyond the telephone, text, email, and social media? Talk to your call center about it. You may be surprised at the breadth and depth of services that they can provide to your organization.
More Services
Building on the more calls and more types of communication considerations, are there more services that they can provide for you? If they presently handle telephone orders for you, can you add website support and assisted browsing into the mix? If they currently take messages and other short-form communication from your callers, could they start giving out basic information to them as well? What about making calls to organizations or individuals you have an existing business relationship with? Many healthcare call centers will do that too.
Conclusion
Now is an ideal time to reevaluate every aspect of your healthcare organization, including the scope and type of work your call center does for you. It’s quite likely they can do more for you then is currently happening or that you’re aware is possible. All you need to do is ask.
Learn how healthcare call center services 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.