1. A medical answering service representative is from another country and will cause more damage than benefit.  Although this is true, not all companies outsource their  call center jobs to India or other countries. Outsourcing is cheaper in the short term but costs more in the long run because customers become frustrated  with these representatives that speak either limited English or have a heavy unintelligible accents.  Make sure your hire a medical call center that uses a team of American agents that can thoroughly communicate in English and can also help resolve minor medical concerns.

2. A medical answering service agency only answers calls and takes a message. This isn’t true at all.  If it were, you must as well plug in your answering machine and save your money.  Many companies today offer an array of services such as answering questions, providing nurse triage services over the telephone and even scheduling appointments.

3. Medical call centers do not provide the personal touch because they either pass the buck to another agent and have no consistent relationship with regular patients. Yet this is true in some cases, a good call center will empower their agents to resolve issues themselves and to encourage them to build relationships with regular patients by returning telephone calls to certain branches or even following up with other representatives that have a history with the caller.  These ways of doing business help to instill trust and put the patient first ahead of convenience.  Many answering service companies even handle emergency calls that are answering by American operating that are HIPAA trained operators.

4. A medical answering service is not a necessity because patients can always call back during regular business hours.  Yes this is true, but what if the telephone lines go down during regular business hours and there is no one to answer a caller with an urgent situation.  Emergency planning is one of the most persuasive things to consider when hiring an answering service.  Should an emergency occur, you will still be able to speak to patients, give medical advice to them through a HIPAA, triage nurse and even book appointments.

When hiring a telephone answering service, make sure the use American operators that are empowered to resolve issues, provide nurse triage services, schedule appointments, and have a emergency recovery plan should telephone lines go down.  In the long run, the benefits of medical answering services far outweigh it’s cost.

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You can’t answer all your telephone calls yourself.  Find the right answering service.  Do you research and make sure the compant you choose can handle your call volume and medical nature of the calls.

In professional sports, the teams are armed with their own doctors, therapists, masseuses and sometimes even acupuncturists. During a game, the paramedics are standing by to whisk the injured to the closest emergency room to treat any injury as fast as possible. In amateur sports, the kids aren’t so lucky. Also, the fact that most kids want to appear tougher than they actually are, exacerbates the situation. This is when a sports-related call center comes in very useful for the parents of their little linebacker or goaltender.

In case the family does not have full medical coverage, a medical answering service can be a lifesaver. Sometimes the injury incurred by the child is painful, but relatively innocuous and can be treated at home. This can save the parents hundreds or even thousands of dollars in a needless hospital emergency room visit. For instance, a minor concussion can be diagnosed by a professional nurse at a medical call center and the child could be monitored at home by his or her parents.

Sometimes a child will incur a more serious injury, but not want to appear weak to his or her parents. Perhaps a bad cut from a razor-sharp hockey skate or a dislocated knee from a bad collision during an intense soccer game. In cases such as these, it is a good idea to have the child speak with the medical call center operator, since the child may be reluctant to tell their parents the severity of their injury because they don’t want to A) worry their parents and/or B) go to the hospital. Talking to a complete stranger on the telephone about one’s problems is usually easier because you don’t care about them, they don’t know you, you’ll never have to meet them and you feel free to say whatever comes immediately to mind.  If the injury is indeed serious, the nurse will advise the kid to tell his or her parents to either get them to the emergency room or just ice it.

The operators of medical call centers are trained to keep the caller calm, be reassuring and not be reactionary. If they don’t know the answer to a query, they will pass the call along to a colleague at the same answering service who can answer your questions accurately.  A specialized telephone answering service might be more difficult to find but just may be worth the trouble.

Check with your health insurance provider for services. Chances are very good that they have live, friendly and helpful individuals who can answer your medical questions.

Alternatively, the Internet is an excellent and very expedient way to locate a physician or a healthcare professional who can answer your questions. Often times, email or chat contact may be preferred depending on the nature of the query, but one has to remember that the people on call are professionals - not physicians - but Registered Nurses and operators who have only your best interests in mind. The person you speak to will have undergone rigorous training in not only medical terminology, but also how to keep calm and how to handle urgent calls from both patients and medical staff. They are also trained to react with speed and precision, dispatching urgent messages quickly and accurately. They are trained to evaluate a wide range of conditions are will either alive fears or recommend that you call your physician. However, if your call is a genuine emergency, they will advise you to call 911.

For non-emergency problems, most physician answering services offer an individual the options of either leaving a detailed voice message or send an email with their symptoms. Responses tend to take no longer than 24 hours, depending on the problem.

For legitimately serious cases, it is generally best to either leave a message for a specific doctor or express to the medical answering service operator that you would like a physician who specializes in your condition to contact you directly at their earliest possible convenience. Any serious conditions should be addressed directly by a physician.

The first factor is price. Not simply the price however. The entire quoted package must be taken into consideration. What is covered? What’s the duration of the contract? How long is the pricing in effect. What are the details? And another thing to be certain of r3egarding the cost is the call volume. How many calls do you estimate will be made in a given month? Examine past phone records to get an idea on the call volume expected. Try to gage this call volume correctly. It will save headaches in the long run. Another thing to watch out for is the pricing model. Is it per call or per minute? In general most clients consider a per call cost model easier to monitor. Your medical practice may be different. Pick the pricing model that will be easiest for your practice to track and monitor. Don’t underestimate the call time either. That’s a common mistake that get’s made.

A second area of consideration when choosing a physician answering service is the service itself, namely the people answering the calls. This may be a tough thing to gage. It may be possible to call the service as a patient if you are up for engaging in a bit of detective work. This type of research may be worth it. You really do want to have a good feeling of the service philosophy and techniques of the medical answering service you are considering. Of course you can simply evaluate the service provided by the sales representatives you talk to when doing your questioning. Anyone you talk to, sales rep, account manager, etc really is representing the answering service and no doubt is a good indicator of the type of service your patients will receive.

Another major consideration when choosing you doctor answering service is the capability of the service. How up to date is the service. How up to date is the technology? Is call answering automated? Will patients be expected to navigate through an endless series of “press 1 to do this, press 2 for that” directions? Patients in need will likely be quite annoyed by this. This is something to consider. Is the service integrated with the internet? Can patients send emails? Are only calls allowed. Are doctors expected to answer emails? Can the service handle most of the emails? Is a web enabled answering service something your practice is set up to handle and take advantage of? Is you patient base able to take advantage of a fully modernized physicians answering service?

Finding and choosing the right answering service for your medical facility is a major decision. With so many considerations that are in the table it may be confusing at times. Focusing on these three major areas may help you focus and find the right medical answering service that fits your practice and style.