5 SIGNS YOU NEED ANEW MEDICAL

ANSWERING SERVICEPATIENT EXPERIENCE COUNTS 24/7

PATIENT EXPERIENCE COUNTSNOW MORE THAN EVER

Often your answering service is the patient’s first

impression of your practice.

It can shape whether their experience is positive or

negative.

Patient safety can be at risk when the medical answering

service falls short.

"If your patients need to schedule anappointment, or worse, if they havean urgent need, the last thing youwant is for them not to be able toget ahold of you."

A A R O N B O A T I N , P R E S I D E N T A M B S C A L L C E N T E R

#1 PATIENTS ARE ON HOLD FOREVER

If your service provider did not receive training on how to

handle medical situations and emergencies, they are likely

doing more harm than good.

The answering service staff must be aware of your

emergency policies and have set standards for directing

your patients’ calls.

You don't want doctors being woken up in the middle of the

night when they aren’t on-call or have the wrong doctor

notified of an emergency.

#2 EMERGENCY CALLS ARE MISHANDLED

#3 CALL CENTER AGENTS ARE RUDE

You’ve worked hard to gain the trust of your clients. Don’t

reward their business rude answering service operatorswith

rude phone operators.

Avoid this is to make sure the company you hire uses a

thorough vetting process when selecting new agents.

Set clear expectations on how you want them to treat your

patients, how frustrated customers should be handled, and

how to best provide a positive experience.

Rudeness is unacceptable and should not be overlooked.

Your reasonable expectation is that your customers will be

delighted with the service they receive.

#4 PATIENT DATA IS OFTEN INCORRECT

Misspellings and incorrect information are generally annoying,

but when it comes to patient data, it is unacceptable

Accurate patient records are an essential element of having a

professional and reliable practice

With how often your staff has to look up patient data in the

Electronic Health Record (EHR) database, it’s important that

the information they find is meticulous and accurate.

#5 THEY AREN 'T HIPAA COMPLIANT

Are they sending PHI to via insecure methods?

Ask your answering service provider about their

standards for handling text message notifications.

To be HIPAA compliant, they must use an encrypted text

messaging app to send protected health information.

Are your morning reports being sent via email without

encryption?

DOWNLOAD CHECKLISTHOW TO SELECT A MEDICAL ANSWERING SERVICE

This handy How to Select a Medical Answering Service checklist

will help you to ask the right questions.

This checklist will help you to:

- Improve patient satisfaction

- Ease burden physician on-call

- Reduce costs

- Ensure PHI is safe and HIPAA compliant