Medical & Healthcare Call Answering Service

Regardless of the specific area you work in, the healthcare sector can often be a stressful place – the health of patients and customers is always a top priority, and it’s always one of their biggest concerns too. With that, there’s a lot of pressure to deliver a patient or customer experience that is nothing short of amazing! Whilst that can often feel like a challenge, it’s certainly possible, especially with our help!

Here at alldayPA, we have a range of packages that are designed to help businesses, in a range of sectors, to keep on top of their patient interactions and deliver a customer service experience like no other. With this approach, we help businesses to maintain, or even improve, their reputation whilst ensuring that the customer is always satisfied! Over the decades, we’ve helped so many businesses to grow, thanks to our services.

Whether you need additional support in handling your customer or patient interactions on the phone, over email, via social media or webchat, we’d love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us by calling 0345 056 8888, and the team will be happy to answer any questions and assist you in deciding on the right package for your needs. Until then, let’s take a look at what customer service entails in the healthcare industry.

Improve customer service in the medical/healthcare industry

Even if you think you provide the best customer service in the business, there’s always room for improvement. Customer needs are always changing, as is the technology we must utilise to deliver services and products. As such, your approach to customer service must evolve too and continue to improve. Here are just a few of the ways you can easily improve your customer service in the healthcare industry…

Use follow-up calls and questionnaires

Healthcare goes beyond appointments and purchases – providers should care for their patients and customers so much further beyond that! Following up with people, either through phone calls, texts, emails or system interaction, doesn’t just improve the customer or patient experience, but it also gives you the opportunity to receive useful feedback that you can act on.

This follow-up could be in the form of an online questionnaire, or you might decide to take a more personal approach by calling or emailing your customers and patients personally to discuss their experience. If you invite customers and patients to leave feedback by calling, emailing or contacting you via social media, we can help you take care of these interactions with our medical answering service!

Listen to concerns and complaints

When a customer or patient raises a concern or makes a complaint, it’s easy to get defensive and brush it off, never to be spoken about again! However, with this attitude, nothing would ever evolve or improve. When a customer or patient comes to you with a complaint, then there’s a pretty good reason why. You should remain calm, understanding and empathetic despite your true thoughts or feelings – remember, the customer is always right!

Besides listening to concerns and complaints, it’s also important to act on them. Tell the customer or patient how you plan to rectify the issue and ensure that it won’t happen again, for them or for another individual. If solving the problem is an ongoing matter, then let the person know exactly what you’ll be doing to address it going forward. Communication skills are key here!

Review the tools and systems that you have in place

There are so many modern tools and systems out there now that can help you to provide a fabulous customer service experience! Nowadays, most healthcare providers utilise electronic records to keep track of their interactions, appointments, bills, patient/customer information and so much more. Whilst these systems are useful to the organisation, they can be so beneficial to the customer or patient too. For example, appointment reminders, booking systems and prompts to leave feedback mean that their journey is streamlined and straightforward, which is a great start to providing an amazing service and experience.

Hire the right people

Healthcare employees have several responsibilities including adhering to rules and regulations, ensuring that they are organised and things run smoothly for the business and the people it serves, and they also must have brilliant customer service skills. When it comes to employing staff, they need to be right for the job – don’t hire for the sake of hiring! Each individual needs to be the right fit and align with your business values, with the right skills and experience to help your organisation excel, and provide a fantastic experience to customers and patients.

Why is customer service important in healthcare?

Customer service is important in any industry, especially if you want your business to thrive and stand out amongst competitors in a crowded market. Yet, because healthcare providers and businesses are dealing with something as serious as people’s health, customer service in this industry needs to be on a whole new level. If your standards slip, the outcomes can be disastrous for all parties involved. Let’s take a look at why you should be focusing on customer service in this sector…

To meet customer and patient expectations (spoiler: it isn’t just about your medical knowledge!)
First and foremost, focusing on providing great customer service will help you to meet the expectations of your customers or patients. Whilst having professionals at your organisation, with sound medical knowledge, is vital, this isn’t the only important factor that patients or customers look for when it comes to their experience with the healthcare industry. They want to see evidence of this knowledge combined with a fantastic service. That means providing a personal, organised and streamlined service where staff are empathetic and understanding.

Mistakes can be costly in this industry
Whether it’s incomplete or incorrect records, or the inability to access data or other errors that have occurred, any mistake in the healthcare sector can be costly. In some cases, it may even be life-threatening! To avoid causing further distress and harm to patients, as well as lawsuits and reviews that could potentially send your organisation on a downward spiral, it’s important to have effective procedures and systems in place. Not only does this make life easier for your staff, but it ensures that patients and customers are left satisfied with the service that they have received.

Triggers repeat custom and referrals
Going above and beyond for your customers and patients by providing a fantastic experience will leave a lasting impression. This means that they’re then more likely to return and even refer others to you, to use your services or products. For you, this is great for business and for your reputation – people are spreading the word about how great you are, which then creates more business and interest for you!

Yet this also has several benefits for customers and patients too. When it comes to healthcare, people value consistency and rarely like change – they like dealing with professionals that they are already familiar and comfortable with, that already know their history. As such, sticking with the same healthcare provider works in their favour too.

Helps you to stand out from the crowd
The healthcare sector can be a pretty crowded and competitive place to be, so getting ahead of your competitors and standing out from the crowd is a must. By providing fabulous customer service, this can work wonders for your reputation and can help you to stay ahead of the game. Of course, other factors are important here too – your staff, experience and the quality of your services or products are all likely to affect your reputation and your place in the industry. However, providing a great customer experience can certainly go a long way, and it’s a great foundation to build on the other factors at play!

Important skills in the healthcare sector

Regardless of your role in the healthcare industry, if you come into contact with patients and customers, then there are important skills that you must have, actively display, and always look to build on. This list isn’t extensive, but it’s definitely a great place to start!

Professionalism – It’s natural to sometimes feel rushed or exhausted as the sector can often be demanding at times. You mustn’t let this show though – to patients or customers, you must remain professional at all times. This will help people to feel comfortable in your presence, which is crucial in providing a great service and experience.

Passion – To succeed in the healthcare industry, you need to be passionate about your role and what it entails. That means you need to be passionate about helping others and their health. This passion will motivate you to try your best at all times, as well as deliver a great service!

Active listening – Patients and customers will come to you when they have a problem that needs to be solved. In return, they don’t just expect a solution, but they expect you to actively listen to their issues or concerns. That way, you can provide a personalised service whilst also showing them that you care. This helps to build positive relationships, which is vital in this sector.

An empathetic and understanding nature – Health concerns to customers and patients are one of the most important things that they need sorting at that time. For many, their issues might be a great source of concern and worry. By being empathetic and understanding in your approach, you can help to reassure the individual. This approach goes a long way in customer service.

Communication skills – In this industry, you’ll have to communicate with people of varying ages, backgrounds and needs. As such, you need to know how to communicate effectively and how to tailor your communication based on who you’re speaking to.

How can alldayPA support your healthcare organisation or business?

We offer three different types of packages to our customers to support them and enable them to provide amazing customer service. Dealing with all enquiries and interactions isn’t just vital for your reputation, but in the healthcare industry, there is so much more at stake. Depending on the nature of your business, your response to customers and patients can be the difference in them getting the medical assistance they need, or going unanswered and ignored whilst they worry about their concern.

With that in mind, we offer a range of packages that are suitable for a range of business models, needs and budgets. We also offer flexible payment plans, including pay as you go, so that you only ever pay for what you need but can scale the services as your organisation grows! Let’s take a look at how we can assist you…

Telephone Answering Service

As a healthcare organisation, your main form of communication with patients and customers is likely via telephone. Yet with so much else to do and so little time, it can often seem tempting to let the phone ring out and leave the person at the other end of the phone unanswered. As challenging as it can be to stay on top of everything, customers and patients should never go unanswered. With our call handling service, we can deal with all your incoming calls!

Our PAs will always take the caller’s name, number and message if you’re unable to take the call when it comes through. If you’re free, we can use our call forwarding service to put the person through to you right away! This service is 24/7/365, as with every service here at alldayPA, to ensure that your patients and customers can always reach someone in their time of need. Our £15m investment into call handling technology across four different contact centres also ensures that, even in the event of a power outage, you and your team are still contactable.

Virtual Receptionist Package

You can enjoy everything in our Telephone Answering Service and more additional services too in this package. These services include call triaging, a remote switchboard, customer service outsourcing and even diary management, which is ideal for meeting scheduling and appointment bookings! This helps you to stay organised, which is essential for any healthcare business. Thanks to the call triaging option, you can also prioritise your customer calls based on their urgency – this is another vital ability when it comes to dealing with customer and patient interactions in the healthcare sector. With our service, you can deal with emergencies and urgent incidents as a priority.

Contrary to popular belief, all our virtual receptionists are real people, all of which are highly trained in customer service skills and have knowledge regarding the healthcare industry. Our virtual assistants can use a variety of software and applications, which ensures that they fit in seamlessly like an additional part of your internal team! We have high standards here at alldayPA and only have the best in the business when it comes to virtual assistants. You can rest assured that your patients and customers are being dealt with empathetically and effectively.

Outsourced Call Centre

This package contains our most advanced services. Whilst this is our most comprehensive package, it’s still cheaper than hiring an in-house team to monitor and deal with your interactions. Instead of recruiting more staff, investing in quality checking and arranging for training to be carried out, you can just work with us instead! As with every service, all the perks in this package are available 24/7/365, meaning that we’ve got you covered outside of business hours and on important holidays.

This package gives you access to all of the above, as well as so much more. This includes bespoke CRM integration, so that we work seamlessly together, and the ability to outsource every single customer interaction that you receive by telephone, social media, email or web chat.

How can working with us help your healthcare company/organisation?

Working with us allows you to reap so many benefits, many of which will be specific to your business model and your offerings. However, regardless of your specific area or specialism within the industry, there are still plenty of universal benefits that all organisations in the healthcare sector can enjoy. Let’s take a look at some of the most obvious benefits you can expect from our packages…

Your customers and patients will have access to support at all times
Health is one of the most important aspects of life, we’re sure that many people would agree. So, if people have a health concern or a health-related enquiry, it’s likely that it’s their top priority at that time. As such, people expect to have access to support whenever they need it, no matter when they need it. That’s why our 24/7/365 service is perhaps most beneficial to businesses in the healthcare sector – you can provide that much-needed support and advice for your customers and patients around the clock, regardless of whether it’s outside your official business hours.

You can save money in the long-run
Hiring extra receptionists or a dedicated team to deal with your interactions around the clock can come at a pretty expensive cost! Not to mention the quality checking and the training that’s needed to ensure your staff are performing to the standards that you expect. Instead of spending money on extra staff or cover over important holidays, such as Christmas, you can use our services as a much cheaper option!

We’re a much more cost-effective option than hiring in-house, yet we still provide the same great benefits including industry knowledge and fabulous customer service. Our PAs are trained to the highest standards so you can rest assured that your customers and patients will have a positive experience!

Boost your reputation in the healthcare industry
The organisations and businesses with the best reputation in the sector tend to be those that provide positive experiences for their customers and patients. By a positive experience, we mean remaining empathetic and pragmatic, responding promptly and always endeavouring to find valuable solutions whilst reassuring the customer or patient. We know exactly what it takes to provide a valuable experience in the industry, so that’s exactly what we strive to deliver, every single time.

By using our services, you can ensure that every interaction is dealt with promptly. Better still, your interactions will be dealt with to the highest standards to ensure that your reputation is maintained or even improved! By ensuring customer and patient satisfaction, you can boost your reputation in the sector and become a go-to for those that require your products or services.

Never miss a lead or opportunity
Ensuring that every customer or patient interaction is dealt with effectively and efficiently is so important, especially when it comes to providing individuals with the medical assistance that they need, whenever they need it. However, beyond this, there are also benefits to your business too. By ensuring that you deal with every interaction, you can make sure that you never miss out on a lead or a new opportunity. If a potential customer gets in touch with you but can’t get through, then it’s likely that they’ll take their custom elsewhere. This is a missed opportunity for you, and a win for one of your competitors in the sector!

So, whilst missing the occasional call or message might not feel like a big deal, it can certainly have significant implications for your business and your reputation too! If customers or patients feel like they’ve been ignored, then they’re going to warn people about your business and go elsewhere.

Have more time to spend on other important business activities
Whether you’re a well-established business or a start-up, there are always important tasks to be getting on with to aid the growth of your business. By outsourcing your customer interactions and entrusting us to deal with them, what you get in return is heaps of precious time that can be spent doing whatever it is that takes priority! This might be training, hosting team meetings, focusing on your own development, planning for the future of the company or even assisting other customers and patients with their issues. Whatever it is, you can get on with it with peace of mind that your interactions are being handled by customer service professionals!

Contact our team today to find out more about our services and how we can help your healthcare company

As we’ve explored, providing a positive experience for customers and patients in the healthcare sector should be a top priority for companies just like yours. So, if you are struggling to keep on top of interactions with people that get in touch, it’s important to address this. Using our services is a great way to do so – with a 24/7/365 service, you can ensure that your business is also contactable, whenever you’re needed. Better still, you can save valuable time, which you can then use instead on more important matters.

Our packages cater to a variety of needs and budgets, yet they are all designed to provide an amazing customer service experience that your patients and customers will appreciate. If they’re new to your business or organisation, this ensures that they will have a great first impression. If they’re already an existing customer or patient, it increases the chances of them remaining loyal and spreading a positive word to others!

If you’re passionate about providing fabulous customer service but you’re struggling to find the means to do so, then look no further than alldayPA for a cost-effective solution. Get in touch with our team today by calling 0345 056 8888 – one of our friendly advisors will be happy to answer any questions and provide any further information that you need.