As you think about the transition from summer to fall, it’s an ideal time to review all the account information your medical answering service has about your organization. Over time things change, and sometimes these updates never reach your answering service.
If you’ve overlooked something, don’t feel bad. It happens. Now take some time to review the database they have about your practice, clinic, or healthcare organization.
By making sure they have accurate and up-to-date information your answering service is in the best position to serve you with excellence. Don’t handicap them by not providing them with your latest news and data.
On-Call Contacts
The most critical details for your healthcare answering service to have are a list of who might be on call, what scenarios they cover, and how to best reach them. Yes, you endeavor to keep your service apprised of every change, but occasionally something gets overlooked. It might be a person whose on-call responsibilities have changed, be it either an increase in scope or a decrease.
Other missed details in your account information are a new phone number, email address, or alternate contact method. By providing your answering service with the most complete and accurate on-call contact specifics, you can help ensure they reach the right person, the right way, the first time.
On-Call Procedure
Related to on-call contacts is your on-call procedure. Has anything changed in your preferences of how they should handle your on call? Is there something you’d like to tweak? Since there is no one-size-fits-all on-call method, it’s important that your process best meet the needs of you and your staff.
Some things to consider include having a backup on call, dividing types of calls among multiple on-call people, and what process to follow if your answering service can’t reach the on-call person or they don’t respond. Work through these items in advance so they don’t become a problem later.
Staff List
Does your medical answering service have a list of your employees or at least the key staff who your callers may ask for? It’s likely that they do. It’s also likely that the list is not current, with it containing people who left your organization or whose duties have changed, as well as new people who have joined. Providing your answering service with a complete roster puts them in the best position to represent you to your patients and callers.
Account Contacts
Who should your answering service reach if they have a question about your account? About accounts payable? About an unexpected call that falls outside of your instructions? Make sure they know who to reach, when to reach them, and how to reach them. If they don’t know who to contact, they’ll have to guess. Don’t make them speculate. No one wants that.
Basic Company Data
What information about your organization has changed that your answering service might not know? Have you moved? Opened or closed a location? Changed your hours of operation? Added or removed a specialty? Replaced or added a phone number? Updated the types of new patients you’ll accept? Make sure your healthcare answering service knows.
Summary
In an ideal world each one of these pieces of account information is passed to your medical answering service as soon as it occurs. In practice, however, with all the things a typical healthcare provider has going on, notifying the answering service may not happen. That’s why it’s important to periodically review all these items to clarify and correct the information your service uses to serve your patients and your callers. Doing so is key to answering service quality.
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.
