Reducing Patient No-Shows With a Telephone Answering Service

Posted June 23, 2015 in after hours answering service by admin

Have you ever thought about what it costs your medical practice when you miss calls after hours? It could be much more than you think, especially when it’s a patient trying to cancel their appointment. According to physicianspractice.com, a no-show appointment costs your practice both financially and with regards to your patients’ confidence. When you start to consider all the things your physician’s office may be losing by missing after hours calls, a 24/7 answering service becomes an extremely cost-effective solution.

Missed Revenue Opportunity

If your patients can’t get a live person on the phone to update your office regarding their appointment, you’re missing out on revenue – it’s as simple as that. Having a live person answer the phone when your staff is not available ensures you get the right information, in a timely manner, for every call. Voice-mail simply cannot perform this function effectively as a large number of callers provide incomplete information or choose not to leave a message at all. A professional answering service can eliminate a lot of the headaches, missed calls and wasted time associated with using voice-mail.

Increase Patient Retention

If your patient needs to miss an appointment because of an emergency, chances are high that rescheduling with you isn’t a top priority. If a virtual receptionist isn’t there to answer their first call, they may not think to call back. Customer service is paramount in the medical field since your patients want to be cared for on a personal level. An after-hours answering service, staffed by trained professionals, will keep trust in your brand high and repeat patients coming back again and again. Nothing eases their mind during a time of trouble like having one less thing to worry about, thanks to you!

Reduce Unnecessary Wait Times

You want to serve your patients in a timely manner, and dealing with no-shows can slow down the entire process. Effective use of a medical answering service improves patient-practice communications and can help in reducing overall wait times.

Wasted Employee Wages

It may seem like a missed appointment here and there doesn’t matter, but over the course of the fiscal year it adds up. As a small business owner, inefficient use of your staffs’ time can really hurt your bottom line. The cost of hiring a telephone answering service is easily justified by the number of hours it saves your staff, so that they can focus on more important tasks.

Some estimates have missed appointments costing a single physician as much as $150,000 a year in lost revenue and additional labor costs. For a multi-physician office, the numbers become even more staggering. That’s an enormous amount of money that physicians are losing out on. Whether your office is big or small, a significant portion of your profits, not to mention time, can be lost due to patients missing appointments. Don’t let this happen to you!

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