There are several ways to do this, and ultimately, running a technologically efficient office not only benefits the doctor, it also benefits the patient. That's because the patient will be better serviced, records will be accurate, mistakes will be kept to a minimum, and patient calls will be answered in a timely fashion.
One of the first elements of running an efficient doctor's office is telephony. Most doctor's offices are very busy, have multiple lines, and receive phone calls constantly. Many of the callers are in pain, may be suffering health-related emergencies, and need desperately to make an appointment. Delivering good customer service to these patients is the first rule of good medicine. Fortunately, delivering this type of good service is cheap and effective. Business VoIP is very common in busy doctors' offices, not only because it delivers cheaper rates, but also because it allows the office to deliver many more sophisticated telephony services that help to better serve the patients.
At any given time, there may be several different reasons for a call to the doctor's office, especially in a large practice. The caller may wish to be connected to a specific group or individual physician's office within that practice. They may need to make an appointment, they may need emergency advice on the phone, or may need a prescription to be called in. The most efficient way to handle these calls, and service all patients on a timely basis, is to implement an auto attendant that can route calls to the most appropriate location for answering. Working with that auto attendant, or alternately with a live operator in the case of a smaller office, the next solution is a call queue. There may often be multiple callers calling for the same reason. Immediately after a billing cycle, there may be dozens of patients trying to get through to the billing department at the same time. Similarly, there may be multiple patients trying to make an appointment.
The call queue helps to relieve some of the confusion by establishing a sort of virtual traffic cop. The auto attendant or live operator will determine each caller's purpose, and then if their destination extension is busy, the caller will be placed into a queue to wait to be connected to the next available appropriate staff person who can handle their request. The queue minimizes wait time, especially when it is divided into multiple call queues based on destination and purpose, which means that patients have to wait less to be serviced. The call queue, common to almost all business VoIP services, will also often include added features such as an automated announcement which tells the caller how much longer they have to wait, or provides them with an option of leaving a voice message for a later callback.
Smaller doctors' offices may prefer to use less sophisticated options if their call volume does not warrant call queuing. But even a small office with only one doctor and one phone line needs to provide good service to patients, and call waiting can provide an option here. Call waiting will allow for emergency calls to be answered and not go to voicemail, to make sure that every caller is receiving the attention they deserve.
Some of the criteria any business should use to evaluate multiple VoIP service providers are technology capabilities, quality of customer service, reputation for reliability of company in the industry, costs for implementation including up-front costs and of course operational costs. The bottom line - for businesses to get the best of their investment, finding the right business VoIP provider is critical. Fill in the form above to have a specialist contact you and start saving money now.
One of the first elements of running an efficient doctor's office is telephony. Most doctor's offices are very busy, have multiple lines, and receive phone calls constantly. Many of the callers are in pain, may be suffering health-related emergencies, and need desperately to make an appointment. Delivering good customer service to these patients is the first rule of good medicine. Fortunately, delivering this type of good service is cheap and effective. Business VoIP is very common in busy doctors' offices, not only because it delivers cheaper rates, but also because it allows the office to deliver many more sophisticated telephony services that help to better serve the patients.
At any given time, there may be several different reasons for a call to the doctor's office, especially in a large practice. The caller may wish to be connected to a specific group or individual physician's office within that practice. They may need to make an appointment, they may need emergency advice on the phone, or may need a prescription to be called in. The most efficient way to handle these calls, and service all patients on a timely basis, is to implement an auto attendant that can route calls to the most appropriate location for answering. Working with that auto attendant, or alternately with a live operator in the case of a smaller office, the next solution is a call queue. There may often be multiple callers calling for the same reason. Immediately after a billing cycle, there may be dozens of patients trying to get through to the billing department at the same time. Similarly, there may be multiple patients trying to make an appointment.
The call queue helps to relieve some of the confusion by establishing a sort of virtual traffic cop. The auto attendant or live operator will determine each caller's purpose, and then if their destination extension is busy, the caller will be placed into a queue to wait to be connected to the next available appropriate staff person who can handle their request. The queue minimizes wait time, especially when it is divided into multiple call queues based on destination and purpose, which means that patients have to wait less to be serviced. The call queue, common to almost all business VoIP services, will also often include added features such as an automated announcement which tells the caller how much longer they have to wait, or provides them with an option of leaving a voice message for a later callback.
Smaller doctors' offices may prefer to use less sophisticated options if their call volume does not warrant call queuing. But even a small office with only one doctor and one phone line needs to provide good service to patients, and call waiting can provide an option here. Call waiting will allow for emergency calls to be answered and not go to voicemail, to make sure that every caller is receiving the attention they deserve.
Some of the criteria any business should use to evaluate multiple VoIP service providers are technology capabilities, quality of customer service, reputation for reliability of company in the industry, costs for implementation including up-front costs and of course operational costs. The bottom line - for businesses to get the best of their investment, finding the right business VoIP provider is critical. Fill in the form above to have a specialist contact you and start saving money now.
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