What is a Medical Answering Service? (And 3 Ways It Can Help Your Business)

A medical answering service can assist your business in many ways, from appointment scheduling and confirmations to taking calls during busy hours while strictly adhering to HIPAA standards.

Whether you are a medical, dental or healthcare office, using a trusted medical answering service can save your staff time, and save you money.

In fact, did you know that some estimations put the cost of missed healthcare appointments at near $150 billion in the US alone? Or that ‘no-show’ rates can reach 30% during certain times of the year? This all translates into lost money for you and wasted time for your professionals and staff.

But what if you could do away with that 30% number altogether? What if you could get your no-shows down to even 10%, or 5%? All without adding extra burden to your staff by making them call, leave messages, and call again.

Now you’re beginning to see why medical answering services have boomed in recent years.

It isn’t about moving towards automation and it isn’t about brushing your clients off – it is simply about finding a more efficient way to run your healthcare business and help your clients remember their appointments. Especially when sometimes those clients have to wait weeks or even months to see their physician.

Stop Those No Shows with a Medical Answering Service

Whether you prefer text alerts and email reminders, to automated voicemails, or even a real, live call to remind your patients about their upcoming appointment, a medical answering service is able to confirm (or remind for) appointments any day of the week.

So, if that looming 30% number above sounds about right for your office, then consider the benefits (and potential profits) of filling those no-show timeslots with their intended patient.

But even if you don’t have a large number of missed or forgotten appointments, there are still other ways that a medical answering service can make your healthcare business run more smoothly.

Be Available at All Times (Without Working the Night Shift or Missing Lunches)

Most healthcare facilities aren’t actually 24-hour, and many of the office staff take a lunch break. But this means there are many hours that your phones are not manned, and therefore, could be missing calls – whether emergency in nature or not-.

To avoid missing calls, clients, and potential emergencies or urgent questions, use a medical answering service just during the hours you need it. All of our options are fully customizable, meaning you can tell us the exact hours you need us – and exactly when you do not.

But what if you are one of the 24-hour facilities? What if you never have your phones off or unaccompanied? Can medical answering services still help you?

Of course!

Lessen Your Wait Times During Busy Hours

If you are open all night and don’t have unmanned lunch hours, then you might be a large facility – which means you probably have some hours, days, weeks or seasons when you are swamped.

Personalized Communications understands this too, as we’ve done extensive research into what the busy call hours are for different industries. We know that sometimes a call is time-sensitive, an emergency, or just plain important, which is why we offer ‘peak hour’ medical answering services as well.

If your patients have to wait on the phone for minutes and minutes, or if your staff is overwhelmed by the call volume at certain hours or during certain shifts, then maybe a medical answering service is exactly what you need to make your business run a little smoother, and a lot faster.

And just like with all of our medical or healthcare answering services, each and every one of our team at Personalized Communications is trained in HIPAA standards and practices, so you never have to worry about a violation on our end.

Let Us Help Your Business Help Others

We are here to help, whether that be with appointment scheduling and confirmation, after-hours calls or peak-hour calls. We can create a package that fits exactly what you need – nothing more and nothing less.

That’s why we are your premier answering service and call center – because we do so much more than ‘telemarketing’. That’s why we’re Personalized Communications – none of our packages are cookie-cutter, because none of our clients are cookie-cutter.

Give us a try for free for 7 days and see first-hand how we can help! Or, request pricing here. We’d love to hear from you – day or night, we’re always ready.