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Information About Medical Answering Services

Medical answering services offer telephonic help and service on behalf of a physician when he is unavailable and maintains patient-doctor relationship.
Omkar Phatak
It often happens that one is in a medical emergency and he or she needs to get in touch with the doctor or family physician for opinion and help. Doctors are busy people and reaching them immediately is sometimes very difficult. This is where medical answering services come into the picture. They provide the link between patients and doctors.
When a doctor subscribes to their service, they handle his patient-related calls and keep a record of his schedule. Depending on the degree of emergency, they forward calls to him or relay messages, on behalf of the patient. This way, doctors can rest easy about managing calls of their patients and focus on their work.

How Do They Work?

These answering services are not like other general services. They do not handle other types of professional calls. They are specialized and specifically cater to medical professionals. Many such services are now available in USA, which are designed for the healthcare industry.
The procedure for taking up and using their service is simple enough. If you are a doctor with an established practice and find it difficult to keep in touch with all your patients, these services can offer you professional help.
They will ask for your contact numbers, your patient information database, as well as your daily schedule. Your emergency pager number, cell number, and home contact number will also be required.
They will analyze and study your patient's history and take in specific information regarding the patient to provide them proper patient care during emergencies. The patient history is needed so that they can understand their problems better and offer them specific help when contacted.
They also note down any detailed instructions, regarding prescriptions or cautionary notes you may have for each of your patients. This helps the medical tele-executives that take the call in solving specific medical queries that your patients might have.
Thus, these services do not just offer messaging to patients, but also provide informed advice. According to the patient's need and your schedule, they can also do the appointment scheduling for you. You get regular email alerts, as well as messages regarding your schedule and your patient status.
You can opt for a full-time or part-time service, depending on your needs. The billing and charging of services is item-specific so that you can have a cost-effective service.
The tele-calling executives who handle your calls are trained and informed about medical terminologies and procedures. They are also trained to handle emergencies, where a patient needs to be given immediate instructions, so as to avert a crisis. These services are not allowed to do any business without HIPAA certification.
The company has to ensure that their tele-calling medical executives are competent enough to handle medical queries, as a patient's life may be at risk, if there is any mistake in instructions of the caller. So be assured that your patients are in safe hands, as these medical executives are rigorously trained for the job and have to pass certification tests.
Prompt call response is ensured for every patient. Voice mail messaging is also available. Medical answering services are a modern technology boost to the healthcare industry. Thanks to them, a doctor is only a call away, from the patient.