A Stress-Free Holiday Season? Try Medical Answering Services

The Holiday Season is upon us! While everyone is looking forward to celebrating this special time with their families, for many medical professionals, it’s business as usual. In healthcare, a missed call over the holiday period is not only a missed opportunity, the impact of unanswered calls for doctor’s offices, hospitals, or dentists is much greater than that.

A lack of adequate patient phone services creates a bad reputation for your medical business, undermines patient's trust in your services, and could lead to fatal consequences. 

Fortunately, there’s a cure for all these concerns. One of the most effective ways for healthcare providers to enjoy the holiday season without compromising on excellent patient service is to seek support from well-established medical answering services. 

Why Is Holiday Season ‘A Special Time’ in Healthcare?

Apart from being the "merriest" time of the year, Holidays are also the time when electric shocks, deep cuts, falls, and other injuries skyrocket. In many of these cases patients don’t need a personal doctor’s assistance but require advice and consultation over the phone. 

By offering 24/7 over-the-phone support, healthcare answering services help medical providers cope with the influx of calls related to these seasonal urgencies. HIPAA compliant trained live agents provide a human touchpoint to callers any time of the day, addressing their inquiries in a personal manner and relaying them to appropriate on-call physicians if needed.

• Each Christmas Season, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) registers about 14,700 holiday decorating related ER-treated injuries.

• The most frequent holiday decorating incidents involve falls (41%), lacerations (10%), and back strains (5%).

• Nearly half (49%) of people preparing holiday food have suffered an accident, according to National Accident Helpline.

Another reason why you might want to consider turning your phone calls over to a healthcare answering service is that around the holidays, personnel coverage tends to be lighter. This means that the medical and office employees who stay on duty need to handle more tasks than usual and aren’t able to take all calls. Hiring extra people to cover phone answering during the holiday period presents an alternative, but one that isn’t feasible for many medical facilities, especially small providers. Answering services offer an immediate and affordable solution to call handling without the costs associated with hiring in-house employees.

Medical Answering Services Can Help You Make It Through the Holiday Rush

An answering service ensures continuous patient care when your practice is closed for the holiday, but its benefits are much broader. The flexibility of the service allows you to minimize holiday staffing while delivering excellent patient care, leading to excellent customer experience and improved bottom line.

Live answering agents who have been qualified to serve specifically the delicate needs of healthcare customers, can be invaluable during the chaotic Holiday Season. They can support your medical business in several ways, including: 

• Responding to patient queries in unforeseen emergencies.
• Dealing with overflow calls.
• Maintaining the continuity of patient care after hours.
• Answering common patient questions about your practice.
• Prioritizing calls to be returned by your healthcare staff.

Are You Ready for the Holidays?

From handling overflow calls to serving your patients at the time of holiday closures, healthcare answering services can help your hospital or practice adequately cover all phones throughout the hectic holiday period, or in any other season. By partnering with a HIPAA-compliant call services provider, you can maintain high-quality customer service while enjoying the festivities with your folks. 

Happy Holidays!