Your medical business needs medical answering services to handle incoming calls, especially emergency calls. Usually when someone calls a doctor's office or clinic after hours, they want to speak to someone directly. It is a stressful time for them and an important business function for you. Callers to healthcare provides highly value the sound of a human voice. So your medical business needs healthcare answering services.

Outsourcing your call-answering needs is an important business decision. Remember that your medical phone answering services vendor will provide a strong impression of your customer care approach. Strive to make them a partner in your business. In choosing medical messaging services or a medical phone answering service, do the following:

1. Analyze your healthcare answering service needs. Consider how many calls you expect each month and track any peaks and valleys in the numbers.

2. Consider your customer needs for a live medical answering service.

3. Decide whether your medical phone answering service needs to be local or national.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find a medical messaging service with professional certification

Take time and care in selecting a provider. Your healthcare answering services partner will be a part of your business's public face. You can find information on service suppliers in various answering service trade associations. Look for companies that have won commendations or awards for answering services for the medical industry.

I recommend: Membership in the American Teleservices Association requires adherence to a code of ethics and stellar performance. You can find providers by several search parameters including area of expertise and geography. Get a quote from a medical answering service at Answering Service Finder.

Choose a medical telemessaging specialist

Your patients are special, regardless of your location or specialty. Your medical messaging service should treat them that way. In order to provide the best service, you may need to provide specialties such as bilingual operators.

I recommend: If you need a bilingual service that specializes in answering doctor's calls, check Answeringservices.net. It has Spanish/English and French-English operators available all day, every day. Americall has been in the business for 75 years. Fill out a request form to experience its range of specialty services, including text-messaging.

Hire the medical answering services provider that best fits your business's particular needs

Whether your staff uses cell phones, pagers, or other messaging devices, your technology might influence your choice of providers. Make sure the one you hire has the capability to communicate quickly and smoothly with your team. It also makes sense to find a service that specializes in the medical field. The operators will have a good grasp of the business and be trained to handle emergency calls per your instructions.

I recommend: Call Desk works with you and your staff on a business plan. Investigate the services they provide as your "virtual medical receptionist." Contact Cadusys, a service that knows your business needs. It was designed by doctors and offers a variety of messaging options.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Before finalizing the contract with a healthcare answering service, test the service with a variety of example calls: emergency, 'irate caller,' 'late night' and so forth. Discuss what you hear with company officials to make sure you are getting the service that what you want.