Doctor’s offices are some of the most busy businesses when it comes to phone calls. Whether it’s people calling to set up appointments or calling with questions or emergencies, it’s usually more than a single receptionist or two can handle. That’s why it can be a good idea to hire a physicians answering service.
It’s important for any business to have a live person answering the phone as much as possible. Roughly four out of five people prefer to interact with a business over the phone as opposed to through email or online chat. And of those callers, about 80% will hang up if they get a voicemail rather than a live person. For a regular business, that can mean lost sales, but it can be much more serious for a physicians office. A person who can’t get through to the doctor’s office may go to the hospital unnecessarily, spending too much money and tying up time that could be better spent on sicker people. On the other hand, other people who fail to reach the doctor may decide to put off care, allowing an illness or injury to become more serious.
Most doctors offices have some sort of answering service for after hours, but it can make sense to use a physicians answering service during regular business hours as well. Outsourcing the duty of answering the phones can result in some benefits for a doctor. If you have an answering service handling your incoming calls, it can free up the members of your administrative staff to do other tasks, such as filing records. Having a live answering service can also ensure that your call volume can be handled so that patients do not face long hold times or the potential of having to leave a message.
At a doctors office, having a 24 hour answering service can be a very important service to offer patients. Medical answering services provide a vital lifeline between patients and their doctors after hours, and they also can help to ensure that calls get answered in a reasonable amount of time during the business day. If you are not using an answering service around the clock, it is something you might want to consider.
