Once you subscribe to healthcare call centers service you expect everything to run smoothly. In fact, this is one less thing a physician should have to be concerned with right? Well, the truth is, these services do not always run smoothly especially when they are staffed by live operators. Here are some of the things which can go wrong when you deal with a live service.
Across the World
Just because you subscribe to a live service, does not mean your patients will be understood when they call. Have you ever contacted a call center and tried to talk to someone from a third world country? Some of these people are fluent in English but many are not. In fact, it is sometimes impossible to understand what is being said over the phone. Here is an example.
A patient tries to contact a doctor after hours and instead the phone rings in a far off country. The operator might speak in broken English and this may be almost impossible to understand over the phone. On the other hand, the operator (who is paid a very small amount of money) may decide to put the caller on hold. This may end up with the service hanging up and eventually the patient must try again. In the meantime, if someone is experiencing a real emergency, serious complications (including death) may result.
Uncaring Operators
Healthcare call centers can hire people to answer phones and provide them with training in medical terms and situations, but you cannot make these people care about their jobs. Here is an example. The phone rings at a live answering service and someone named Anna answers the phone. The caller is suffering from the early stages of a stroke. He has trouble communicating and is slurring his words. Naturally, Anna thinks the man is simply drunk and being obnoxious so she tells him to drink some black coffee and sober up. Then she hangs up on the man. This could result in the patient dying and a major medical practice lawsuit for the physician.
The Risks are Substantial
If you must deal with underpaid workers at some healthcare call centers, you could be undertaking a great deal more risk than you imagine. Remember, your answering service is an extension of your practice and anything bad they do is directly reflected upon you, the physician. When you use a state of the art, fully automated service, you can lower you risk substantially, ensure HIPAA compliancy, and save a great deal of money in the process.
No More Phone Tag is one of the most affordable and secure healthcare call centers you can find.
