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In today's value-based care environment, few healthcare organizations have the necessary budget, in-house expertise, tools, technology or staff to operate a medical call center. Fortunately, outsourcing provides a perfect solution for medical groups, practices and hospitals. Not only does outsourcing eliminate the need for healthcare facilities to invest in call center operations, but it provides a number of additional advantages as well. Healthcare facilities leverage outsourcing to lower operational costs, facilitate patient satisfaction, boost patient revenue, access specialized expertise, increase flexibility and create more value overall for the organization. These top six reasons to outsource to a medical call center can have a major impact on performance. 1. Lower Operational and Labor Costs Cost savings have long been the primary reason organizations outsource. Like many companies operating in the current economic environment, healthcare provider revenues have been increasingly squeezed. Lower reimbursement rates, for one, drive providers to cut costs wherever possible. When healthcare providers partner with the right medical call center company, the properly executed outsourcing strategy delivers sizeable savings. How? For the most part, by eliminating investments in facilities, technology and staff. Medical call center providers exploit economies of scale. Because they provide services for many organizations and handle huge call volumes, they can afford to invest in innovative facilities and the latest call management technologies. Most healthcare organizations can't justify these hefty investments, especially with the constant pressure to lower costs and boost revenues. In addition, outsourcing eliminates staffing expenses -- the most expensive element of a medical call center. Recruiting, hiring, training and managing both on-site and remote staff proves challenging for even the largest healthcare organizations. A successful call center requires experienced representatives, managers and IT professionals. You need experts to manage call volume fluctuations, sophisticated analytic applications, 24/7 technology support, infrastructure security and more. When you outsource, you gain savings and free-up internal resources that can contribute to achieving organizational goals. A healthcare organization can have additional budget available for creating competitive advantages. And, managers can focus more on core strategic initiatives. 2. Provide Better Patient Care and Satisfaction Poor customer satisfaction can make or break any business. But healthcare organizations have even more at stake. Because you're dealing with a person's well being, your call center operation must provide accurate information. The medical call center staff requires professional knowledge and skills suited to your specific specialty. In the past, healthcare organizations were hesitant to trust third-party call centers. However, three things happened to change healthcare providers' attitudes on outsourcing: well qualified medical call centers exist as a viable and attractive option, providers can no longer afford to operate a call center and, as mentioned earlier, healthcare organizations must find ways to cut operational costs. When you partner with a qualified medical call center, your patients will be interacting with a professional organization that has the necessary expertise in healthcare operations as well as customer service. The outsourcing provider can even enhance your customer relationship and retention. For example, proven outsourcers invest in software applications that provide detailed call metrics. Using data from these applications, call centers develop meaningful quality assurance programs to ensure patients are handled in the best manner possible. 3. Boost Revenue Generation In addition to focusing on cost reductions, healthcare providers have a great opportunity to leverage their medical call centers for revenue generation. Outsourced call centers integrate technology and processes to help providers get the most money from the care they deliver. Professional call center representatives are trained to up-sell and cross-sell. For instance, reps can expand their conversations beyond scheduling appointments. Seminars, classes, additional services and other resources can be recommended to patients. 4. Tap into Specialized Expertise With medical call center outsourcing, healthcare providers don't need to use existing internal resources or acquire new resources that aren't available in-house. A healthcare organization can benefit from a medical call center provider's expertise in creating operational efficiencies through professional staffing, call management and technology implementation. Outsourcing companies are well versed in recruiting, hiring, training and managing the most appropriate call center representatives, managers and IT support staff available. Well qualified medical call centers also understand how to accommodate call volume fluctuations and workers in multiple locations. They know how to manage operations 24/7 using on-site and remote workers. Call center companies that invest in advanced communication infrastructures can operate at peak efficiency with a remote workforce. By allowing some employees to work at home, for example, a medical call center provider can attract top talent to fill positions. And, professional call center providers are experts at collecting and maintaining patient call data. They can easily spot trends and opportunities for better service, operational efficiencies and potential revenue gains. 5. Increase Operational Flexibility Outsourcing allows any organization to easily scale their operation as internal needs dictate. You can expand or downsize your outsourced call center quickly and easily. If you gain patients, you can enlist the medical call center to serve the increased number of calls immediately. Call center outsourcing also frees up space in your facility. Healthcare providers don't need to devote valuable facility space to agents, call center managers, IT personnel and equipment. Outsourcers know how to make the most of call center workspaces. 6. Build Value and Improve the Return on Investment Because established medical call centers invest heavily in people, technology and processes, they're able to provide their healthcare customers with a significant return on their investments. They provide operational efficiencies that many healthcare organizations would be hard-pressed to realize in-house. They're also well positioned to generate additional revenue opportunities through up-selling and cross-selling patient services. When the call center function is outsourced, you can focus on what matters most – delivering the best healthcare possible. And when you provide exceptional service, you're able to build a loyal base of patients. Working with AnswerNow AnswerNowMD, AnswerNow's dedicated healthcare team, works exclusively with medical providers, hospitals, healthcare facilities and other businesses in the healthcare field. Our team ensures the clients and patients of our healthcare customers receive excellent care and attention when they call. The AnswerNowMD team has the required expertise and experience to manage the complexities involved in patient care. In addition, our staff receives rigorous, customized training before taking any calls. Our medical call center services include: * Call center outsourcing * Co-sourcing * Employment screening * Voicemail – response and prioritization * Customer service * Data entry * Discharge and patient surveys * Patient follow-up * Bilingual (Spanish) and interpreter services * HIPAA secure messaging * 24-hour messaging with multi-channel message output * Appointment scheduling * Appointment reminder – live and automated For more information on AnswerNowMD, visit http://www.answernowinc.com/telephone-answering-solutions/answernowmd-medical-call-center.html.
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