A Telehealth Explosion

Pre-pandemic, virtual doctors’ visits were around but uncommon. Believe it or not, the concept of telehealth dates all the way back to 1879, when an article in Lancet discussed avoiding unnecessary office visits by conducting appointments via phone. The authors predicted that remote healthcare would eventually become widespread, and it expanded considerably in the 1970s. By March of 2020, in the throes of a global health crisis, telehealth became ubiquitous.

In the first quarter of 2020, the medical industry saw a 50% uptick in remote healthcare visits when compared with the same period in 2019. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, case reports indicate that telehealth went from accounting for less than 1% of visits to representing as much as 80% of visits in areas significantly impacted by COVID-19. And whether COVID-related or routine care, patients had no choice but to accept the new normal of virtual appointments.

Medical Office Adaptation & Transformation

As the pandemic barreled its way across the globe, some private practices and large healthcare systems furloughed employees, while others shifted gears and adapted to the rapidly changing landscape. Under CDC guidelines, healthcare offices began restructuring patient flow procedures, spending extra time on sanitization between appointments, and rethinking the entirety of how to effectively run their practice during a pandemic. For many practitioners, this meant an increasing reliance on virtual medical answering services to provide front office support.

There’s a certain level of comfort in walking into your doctor’s office and seeing their hard-working team face to face. They’re familiar, understanding, empathetic. When a practice administrator makes the decision to outsource front office tasks, it can be difficult for virtual receptionists to recreate that same sense of connection. But if you think about it, the interaction between patients and their providers starts virtually. From booking appointments to referral requests to intake paperwork, a lot happens in advance of that one-on-one time. So, if you’re working with a virtual medical receptionist, how can you generate the kind of interaction that patients have come to expect from your staff?

Prepping Your Virtual Medical Receptionist

The key is to empower your call center agents to manage many of the same administrative tasks as your in-house employees – smoothing the transition between what patients are used to, and what they can expect from a shared operator pool. Let’s take a look at a few ways that a healthcare call center can accommodate existing service levels and preserve a patient-centric approach in a virtual environment.

#1. Answer Basic Questions

When they’re not shuttling between exam rooms and cleaning like crazy, your staff is managing myriad tasks. They’re logging information for referrals, acting as the go-between for medical concerns, transferring calls, providing instant answers to any number of questions, and more. How much can remote agents really do to help with these varied needs? For starters, they can take some of those simple questions off your hands.

Delivering an exceptional patient experience means delivering on-demand convenience. When patients need info fast, they don’t want to leave a message and sit by the phone waiting for a call back. And whether callers are speaking with your staff or with your outsourced front desk, the process by which their questions are answered is largely the same. Consider equipping your virtual receptionists with clear and concise FAQs that are not directly related to medical conditions, medical symptoms, and the like. Call center agents can quickly locate and provide details such as:

• In-office COVID-19 guidelines (e.g., mask requirements, what to do upon arrival, testing and vaccine availability, etc.)
• Accepted insurances and pricing for out-of-pocket options
• Cancellation policies and associated fees
• Locations, business hours, and services / specialties offered
• Practitioners’ names and NPI numbers

The more your virtual front desk team can answer for callers, the more it will seem like they’re a true extension of your practice.

#2. Offload Patient Scheduling

According to a study by McKinsey and Company, 11% of consumers used telehealth prior to COVID-19, whereas 76% of consumers are interested in continuing to use telehealth going forward. In-office or virtual, all appointments have at least one thing in common: they require scheduling. Rather than watch your support staff break under the weight of increased telephone calls, utilize remote agents to fill up your calendar. Integrating cloud-based scheduling software such as Calendly or Google Calendar with your in-house system will enable call centers to book appointments on your behalf. Some answering services even offer integrations that can push new patient paperwork directly to your callers.

Taking scheduling a step further, for those patients attempting to book same-day or next-day appointments, you can create a script that incorporates the AMA’s COVID-19 screening questions. This will save your team from additional outbound calls and give the appearance that your offsite receptionists are working right alongside your in-house staff. Keep in mind that to remain HIPAA-compliant, your virtual appointment line should be limited to scheduling only. This prevents agents from accessing PHI for reschedule and cancel requests.

#3. Screening and Routing Calls

Speaking of screening, well-defined logic options will allow agents to easily triage calls and take patients in the appropriate direction based on their needs. Carefully thought out scripts usually begin with a driving question. From there, each path can drill down and gather the rest of the information your staff needs to address the corresponding issue or request. Here are a few common answer phrases:

• Are you a new or existing patient?
• Are you calling regarding an emergency?
• Are you calling to schedule an appointment?
• Are you calling regarding COVID-19 or vaccinations?

By building a robust script that covers typical call scenarios, agents will be in a position to provide extended support. For example, remote receptionists can:

• Document referral requests
• Document prescription refill requests
• Complete online intake forms
• Book appointments for the entire practice or specific doctors
• Process payments for services that require prepayment
• Transfer emergency calls, both during and after hours
• Initiate a reach on-call, either manually or via an automated system

Most after-hours medical answering services only have the power to pass a simple message on to the practice. Comprehensive virtual resources bring the interaction to the next level, facilitating communication between your patients and your staff.

Bouncing Back

The financial impact of COVID-19 has been far-reaching, across innumerable industries, and all around the world. If you had asked people a few years ago which field they thought would be pandemic recession-proof, it’s likely that the majority of people would have suggested the medical field. But as a result of both state and federal guidelines, and in the interest of protecting as many people as possible from this deadly virus, medical facilities of all types and sizes were hard-hit and had to pivot on a dime to keep things going.

Though budget cuts, budget reallocation for PPE, facility closures, layoffs and furloughs did considerable damage, some practices were able to bounce back by adopting a telehealth model, allowing staff to work remotely, and outsourcing certain administrative responsibilities to healthcare answering services. Call center agents are not a replacement for the expertise and training of seasoned medical office professionals. But with the right setup and capabilities, virtual receptionists can go a long way in showing your patients that no matter what life throws at you, outstanding care remains your priority.

The post 3 Ways A Healthcare Call Center Can Help Improve The Patient Experience appeared first on SAS Call Center.

How healthcare approaches call center outsourcing is a bit different. Traditionally, healthcare businesses will use call centers not to improve the patient experience, but to provide accessibility to a healthcare professional after hours. You’re sick, you call your doctors office after hours, a receptionist logs the reason why you’re calling, they hang up and call the doctor with the message, the doctor calls you back and discusses your issue. Done. Healthcare as an industry isn’t really concerned with better front end customer service to engage and retain patients. The traditional view is as long as the care is adequate and the access is 24/7, the patient (or customer) will stick around.

If you’re looking for someone to cut your lawn, it’s usually the first person who calls back who will land the job. However, if you call them up to request they trim your hedges next time they’re at your house and you don’t get a response, with how easy it is to change companies, you can fire the old company and secure a new one in the blink of an eye. Compare that experience to one you may have with your dermatologist. It may take 4 months to get an appointment, and they may tell you to call every week in the off chance someone cancelled so they can get you in sooner. And you’re basically stuck with no other great options and a weird bump on your forehead.

But healthcare is a business just like a business is a business. Healthcare can learn a lot from how small businesses use call centers while still maintaining HIPAA compliance and making sure that patient information stays safe.

Create A Patient Centered Script

As a medical provider outsourcing to a call center, keeping your patients’ experience in mind should be at the forefront when creating your script. Instead of just having your call center take messages for all calls, take advantage of the various features they offer, and implement them into  your own call handling. Here are some ways to do that:

• Dispatching urgent messages: When your patients don’t feel well or are having an emergency, they don’t want to just leave a message in hopes of a return call. They want to speak with their doctor as soon as possible. By allowing your call center to transfer urgent calls to their doctor or have them follow a reach on-call protocol, your patients can feel at ease knowing someone is there to help.
• Scheduling appointments: If your call center isn’t helping your practice schedule appointments, you’re creating more work for your in-house staff, and irritating patients. When patients call  your practice to schedule, they expect to be helped. Taking a message and having someone call them back to schedule simply doesn’t cut it anymore. Your patients are busy, and the quicker they can get on and off the phone while crossing tasks off their list, the better. Many call centers can use scheduling systems you’re already using, or integrate with web-based software for seamless transitions.
• Processing payments: Does your practice require patients to pay in advance in case of cancellations? Call centers that are PCI compliant can process payments on your behalf without the need of a call back.
• Prescription refills: Can call center operators re-fill prescriptions for your patients? Not exactly, but they can handle the task of gathering the patient’s name, number, prescription number and preferred pharmacy, which means one less thing you have to do.
• Frequently asked questions: Patients may call your practice with frequent questions like “will I need to pay a copay?” or “Do you accept my insurance?” or “What are your accepted forms of payment?” Instead of taking down their messages and having someone from your team call them back, your call center operators can answer those questions via programmable FAQs that can be customized at any time.

Give The Call Center Access to your Healthcare EMR System

When outsourcing to a call center, it’s important to create as seamless a transition as possible to ensure your patients are receiving top notch care. A good way to do this is to give your call center access to your EMR system. That way you are able to share patient information with your center that the agents can use when patients call in.

When your call center agents are able to show background knowledge of your patients, they’ll feel a connection to your practice that other practices are unable to provide. Additionally, when your call center agents have the ability to update patient information in real time, your in-house staff don’t have to worry about spending time updating patient records later.

Open Up Multiple Communication Channels

Call centers are notorious for answering calls, but that’s not all they can do. If you’re looking to become more accessible to your patients, consider opening up multiple communication channels with your call center. Call centers can typically handle tasks like:

• Email response: Are your patients emailing in to confirm, change or cancel their appointment? Call center agents can respond to emails and carry out the same tasks they would if the patient had called in instead of emailing. They can even send out confirmation emails and reminders after an appointment has been scheduled.
• Live chat response: For patients that have quick questions that don’t necessarily require a phone call, live chat is a great alternative and is huge time saver. Call center operators can help answer questions and even assist with scheduling appointments or refilling prescriptions which may be more convenient for your patients.
• Social media monitoring: More and more people using social media to connect with the brands they do business with – including the medical professionals they trust with their care. By becoming more available to younger generations via a channel they’re using every day, you can provide another level of accessibility. Call center operators can help respond to direct messages and offer quick assistance as if they were in your own office.
• Text response: Many mental health counselors encourage patients to communicate via text as it’s sometimes easier to write how you feel instead of saying it. If your patients are used to texting your office, having your call center agents intercept those texts to relay messages is a great way to take some work off of your plate. While agents would not be giving out advice or offering suggestions, they can lend a listening ear and ensure the message will be received.

Depending on who your call center provider is, these features may not come standard as they typically require the need of a dedicated agent who will be trained on your specific protocols only.

Analyze Your Call Traffic

Just as you would run reports and analyze metrics in your own office to maximize efficiency, the same holds true when outsourcing. Call center reports will be able to tell you things like how many calls you’re receiving each week, day, and/or hour, what patients are calling in about and how long each call is taking.

With this information, you are able to make adjustments and prioritize your needs as you see fit. For example, if many patients are calling in with questions about your insurance policies, it would be a good idea to provide that information to your operators so they can answer those questions for  you. In addition, if you notice your calls are taking longer than what your patients would like to spend on the phone,  consider removing some steps from your script so the operators aren’t spending as much time gathering information.

Learn more about Specialty’s call center services for the healthcare industry and how we can help medical professionals stay connected with their patients.

The post How Healthcare Can Use Call Centers to Enhance the Patient Experience appeared first on SAS Call Center.

Current Hot Services in Call Center Outsourcing

Your customers are online, which means any high pressure “What do I have to do to get you into this car today” speeches aren’t going to work. Your customers are research animals, and your job should be to be there to answer questions when they have them. Following are what we’re seeing as communication channels opened up by automotive businesses and managed by the call center, as well as the distribution of contact from each.

Live Chat Support

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their live chat channel: 23%

Best used if:

• Customers want to talk to a representative without having to call
• Customers want to search the website while they’re chatting

Facebook Messenger

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their Facebook channel: 13%

Best used if:

• You’re active on Facebook and encourage customers to reach out on social channels.

Twitter Direct Messaging

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their Twitter channel: 8%

Best used if:

• Your sales team monitors your Twitter feed for leads.

Telephone Engagement

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their inbound telephone channel: 97%

Best used if:

• Customers want to receive immediate support
• Customers want to speak to a live voice

Email Inquiries

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their email channel: 24%

Best used if:

• Customers want to casually inquire about a vehicle
• Customers  don’t mind waiting for a response back

Text Message

Percentage of our automotive customers having us manage their text message channel: 37%

Best Used if:

• You advertise a phone number on your website that customers can text.

What are prospects and customers contacting you about?

Here are the top 10 questions that our call center representatives get asked on any support channel:

1. “I’m looking online, but don’t see a specific model. Do you still have it available?”
2. “Can I come in any time to speak with a sales person or do I have to make an appointment?”
3. “I spilled coffee on my seats. Is that covered under my Maintenance package?”
4. “I got this letter in the mail regarding a recall. Can you tell me more about it?”
5. “Can I schedule a service appointment?”
6. “How long are your holiday sales going on for?”
7. “My lease is ending soon. What are my options?”
8. “I’m wondering what my trade-in value is. Can you help me?”
9. “I came in to test drive a car the other day. Can you send me more information about it?”
10. “Do you sell parts at your location?”

Opportunities Open Up With Live Response

Let’s face it, there are a lot of car dealerships in a customers purchase radius that are able to sell a car at basically the same price. If you have a new car for 22k, I can get that same car for 22k from a dealership that’s a few miles up the road. What is going to sell your dealership is the customer service and responsiveness you’re able to deliver – and call center outsourcing is how it’s done in today’s marketplace.

The consumer needs to know that after the sale, you’ll be just as responsive if they need service. You’ll be there if they want to add that warranty onto the car after the drove it off the lot. You’ll be there to answer any questions they have about how to work their autopilot system. With a call center, you can be there for your customers when your in-house employees have all checked out for the night. Responsiveness opens up opportunities for:

• Referral business: When your customers know that you’re available 24/7, they’ll be quick to refer your company to their friends and family.
• Warranty work: Call centers can help answer general questions about warranties or access internal systems to pull up specific warranty information.
• Repairs and oil changes: Call centers can help schedule appointments for service like repairs, inspections and oil changes.
• Positive reviews: Utilizing a call center that offers 24/7 live support and that can assist your callers with scheduling appointments, answering questions and processing payments will encourage customers to leave positive reviews about your business.

Check out our automotive call center outsourcing page to read more about what SAS can offer car dealerships like yours.

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