Every medical office and facility, from private practices with specific specialties to surgeons in hospitals, relies on appointments. Even though the process sounds simple—patient makes appointment, patient goes to appointment and receives care—it’s often much more complex than that. People are busy and often need reminders before their appointment and follow ups afterwards. Sometimes something comes up and they can’t make it to their appointment. Likewise, healthcare providers are busy too and occasionally need to reschedule appointments for personal reasons.

There is also often more to scheduling an appointment than choosing a date and time, especially in healthcare. Patients need to know if there is specific paperwork they need to bring to their appointment or if there are any physical requirements to receiving care, such as not eating or drinking for a certain number of hours before they arrive. Many medical offices designate one or two people to handle appointments, but some smaller practices are unable to do this, having receptionists schedule appointments or something similar. But more and more practices are using telephone answering services to handle appointment scheduling. Here’s why.

Increased Efficiency 

While some practices now allow patients to schedule appointments online, the vast majority of appointment scheduling (apart from follow ups that are scheduled in the office) is done over the phone. When someone in your office like the receptionist is trying to juggle administrative tasks, check in arriving patients, and answer incoming phone calls, they can fall behind fast. Using a telephone answering service that is solely dedicated to answering these calls or returning patient calls in a timely fashion will ensure that all appointment information is conveyed when it needs to be and that rescheduling, if needed, is done early enough to adjust the schedule and minimize no-shows and double bookings.

 

Reduced No-Show Rates

 Speaking of no-shows, they can be a drain on any medical practice, both financially and time-wise. The best way to reduce no-shows is to have a person or multiple people dedicated to confirming or rescheduling appointments. It’s not uncommon for patients to call a medical office and be put on hold for a long time or told they would receive a call back that never came, both of which can lead to no-shows. A telephone answering service dedicated to appointment handling eliminates these possibilities, plus makes it easy for patients to cancel or reschedule within the same call because the person on the other end of the line is not also dealing with patient arrivals and trying to rush them off the phone.

 

24/7 Live Scheduler

When you have someone who works in your office handling appointment scheduling, they can only answer the phone during office hours. At the same time, there are numerous patients who are unable to call during office hours, especially if they need to cancel an appointment at the last minute. Using an answering service can put someone on the other end of the line 24/7, so that patients are able to confirm and schedule appointments at their convenience.

 

Calendar Integration

 Even if you have one person sitting at one computer in your office handling appointment scheduling, things can go wrong. A patient or doctor can walk in who needs attention and a step can be skipped, or simple mistakes can be made. An answering service will use a calendar that’s fully integrated with your internal calendar, ensuring that appointments are scheduled at the right time, at the right location, with the right provider every time.

 

Better Patient Care

Patient care does not start and end in the exam room. It extends to the waiting room and beyond, all the way to the interactions that patients are having with your office over the phone. If patients feel confident that they will always be able to handle appointment changes easily, always receive a follow up when needed, and always reach an actual person, it will greatly improve their overall experience with your practice.

If you’re looking to employ some agents to handle appointment scheduling, consider CallShaper’s new easy-to-use telephone answering service platform. For more information, schedule a demo today.