It’s a well known fact that patient no-call, no-shows are one of the biggest setbacks for modern day healthcare. According to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) statistics poll, “estimates show missed appointments cost single physicians as much as $150,000 annually…[and] for multi-physician offices, the numbers are even more staggering.” Valuable time is easily wasted on preparing for an appointment, making it all too frustrating when patients don’t arrive. Fortunately, last minute cancellations are often controllable once you’ve established why you have them in the first place and medical answering services can help you find the answer!
Without call analytics data to reflect baseline progress, it will be impossible to see where your practice is struggling the most. Tracking patient no-show rates ultimately recaptures lost revenue and leads to financial health for your medical practice. Fortunately medical answering services do all of this and more! With the right partner, your practice can use restored revenue to add staff, invest in additional resources, upgrade technology and improve employee benefits.
There are so many different reasons why patients miss appointments. Whether it’s transportation issues, a family emergency or general healthcare anxiety, no-show patients often have no idea how this impacts a practice. Fortunately, there are many ways medical answering services can easily help alleviate no-call, no-shows.
Appointment Reminders: Professional answering services are able to deploy calls, personalized texts, and even automated reminders for your patients. These reminders can include all the necessary information about their upcoming visit, including date, time, location and any other preparations they need to make beforehand. This proactive approach ensures patients are well informed, and less likely to forget their scheduled visits.
Personalized Interaction: Reliability is a huge factor in patient retention. If patient calls are not answered and returned in a timely manner, they will likely call another practice. Over time, this can be harmful to your reputation. Knowing how to build strong trust is a key part of establishing an organization as a trustworthy care service. Patients will come to respect and refer to their peers over time. Plus, nurses will rest easy knowing their patients have around-the-clock access to a professional who can answer their questions, calm their fears, or connect them with the right team member.
Follow-Up Communication: Surveys are a great way to gather feedback from patients about their experience. They can include questions about the quality of care received, appointment satisfaction, and even suggestions for improvement. For patients who were prescribed medication during their appointment, medical answering services can follow up to ensure they understand their medication regimen, taking their medication as prescribed, and check to make sure they are not experiencing any complications or side effects. Patients may also have follow-up questions or concerns after their appointment. Whether it’s diagnosis clarifications, treatment plan complications or medication refills, medical answering services can address and reassure patients.
Handling Cancellations & Rescheduling: Patients are bound to get caught up in commitments and emergencies that prevent them from showing up. Although healthcare organizations have no control over this process–you can get ahead of them. Professional medical answering services have trained operators who not only help manage last-minute cancellations, but ensure patients are able to reschedule their appointments in the same call. Filling the gaps left by cancellations allows you to offer convenient alternatives to your patients. As a result this increases their satisfaction by demonstrating a commitment to patient care that is prompt and responsive. Also, reducing gaps in the schedule will maximize appointment availability and minimize revenue loss.
Emergency Response: When patients call your office for help, they don’t want to hear a recording telling them to call back during business hours, and they want to speak with someone who can help them at that moment. Medical answering services answer calls 24/7 and calmly provide information about emergencies, urgent care, and after-hours services. It’s important to give your patients peace of mind during critical situations so they develop trust that there will always be someone available to help or guide them in case of emergency.
At TeleMed, we offer a variety of medical answering services that can be customized to the best needs of your practice. We use everything from AI-driven call routing, EMR/EHR integration, and secure messaging systems. These tools enhance efficiency, accuracy, and integration with healthcare providers’ systems. Plus, it grants more opportunities to really communicate with patients when they need it the most!
Here are a few examples of TeleMed Services you can use to reduce no-call, no-shows :
Whether you are a small to medium physician group, a large hospital, a busy medical clinic, a community health center, or more, TeleMed has the tools, experience, and expertise to deploy and integrate an intelligent medical answering service or medical call center solution that exceeds expectations. TeleMed medical answering services work with your practice to define a proper call workflow. We ensure that your patients are taken care of as we collect the correct information needed to progress their health journey, while relieving your staff along the way. Our highly skilled operators are located throughout the United States and are ready to assist your practice day and night. Don’t wait until the phones can’t stop ringing–choose TeleMed today!