Ensuring high-quality medical answering services is more than just a convenience—it’s a critical component of comprehensive patient care. Medical clinics are required to provide their patients the ability to reach their Providers past the normal daytime hours of operations. In the world of round-the-clock service, answering services provide efficiency and continuity in today’s digital world of healthcare communication.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) states that about 65% of all Emergency Department visits occur between 8 PM and 5 AM. Thus, it is very important for the After hours medical answering service must be answered by the On-Call Doctor rather than someone who is not prepared to deal with such a situation.  

Doctoc’s medical answering service has been designed by and for today’s healthcare professionals. It’s simple yet sophisticated design caters to the rising demand for all the lag and inefficiencies associated with the brick-and-mortar answering service. Our AI-driven answering machine with lag-less and intelligent routing mechanism has improved the overall After Hour experience for the providers, nurses and patients and increased efficiency and this is how we make it all work seamlessly. 

To Learn More: Improve your After Hour Clinic Communication. Book a 1-to-1 Consultation Now!

What are Medical Answering Service? 

Medical Answering Service takes calls and messages when you cannot do so. This form of digital communication is vital for providing 24*7 healthcare service. These services are supported by On-call doctors or trained professionals act as a bridge between patients and healthcare providers, offering reassurance, advice, and instructions for seeking further treatment when necessary. 

After hours medical answering service provide peace of mind to patients who know that assistance is available at any hour, reducing unnecessary emergency room visits and easing anxiety during medical emergencies. For a clinic, it helps with better management of after-hour calls.  

Telephone Triage in Doctoc’s Medical Answering Service 

Our medical answering service excels in reliability and precision, ensuring an exceptional experience for all users. By leveraging advanced technology, we eliminate human errors and ensure that no details are overlooked. Every call is managed with the highest level of accuracy and care, guaranteeing a seamless and efficient process. The advanced triage system from Doctoc is designed to handle each call with the utmost care, ensuring that no detail falls through the cracks. 

Problems with Traditional Human Answering Service 

The healthcare sector of the USA has been using traditional answering services since the 1950s. The disadvantages of using brick and traditional answering services for clinic calls are mentioned below: 

• Problems with Complex on-call scheduling: Large medical practices with intricate on-call schedules face numerous challenges with traditional phone services, including difficulties in creating and communicating schedules effectively. 
• Call routing errors:  The potential for human errors in sending messages to a Provider not on call, long wait times to answer an incoming call, and busy signals leading to unnecessary delays frustrate both patients and providers. The risk of error increases if a non-medical operator is in charge who might not assign the same degree of urgency that is required for an urgent or a stat call.  
• High call volume: The high volume of calls often results in long wait times for patients trying to reach their healthcare providers, impacting overall patient satisfaction. 
• Non-medical personnel handling urgent calls: In some cases, non-medical personnel following scripted responses may mishandle urgent or STAT calls, potentially compromising patient care and safety. 
• Increasing Overhead Costs: Traditional phone services are not scalable since they charge by the minute or per call leading to high costs during the busy season or peak hours. During busy periods the callers may face high wait times and sometimes their calls may not be answered in a timely manner. 

Advantage of Doctoc’s AI-Driven Medical Answering Service 

• Efficient On-Call Scheduling: A Cloud-based, user-friendly, and with immense flexibility for simple to complex schedules both for patients and healthcare facilities providing unmatched reliability. It is a reliable and robust system that ensures NO downtime or call drop.   
• Real-Time Transfer: On-call assignments can be transferred in real-time to the providers’ phone and any other associated group sharing on-call duties.   
• Comprehensive Documentation of non-urgent calls: All non-urgent calls (such as appointments, billing, etc) during the after-hours are properly documented and sent to the right destinations as new work items for the next day. 
• Structured information with Transcription: All voicemails are transcribed and have original recordings and necessary information. Reading is 7-times faster than listening.  
• One-Click Call-Back: Simplifies call-back process for on-call doctors, reducing chances of errors or having to remember phone numbers during callbacks. 
• Triaged Message Handling: The triage facility ensures accurate routing of calls based on urgency levels, optimizing response times. 
• Enhanced Patient Experience: Patient messages are promptly directed the message to the correct On Call Doctor with patient details and alert notification, minimizing response delays. 
• Waterfall Routing: A series of backup call numbers ensures that no phone call goes unanswered even if the primary number is unavailable. 
• On-Call Doctor’s Convenience: Disturbance-free nights with silent delivery of routine messages, along with timely notifications and documented messages for each call. 
• Privacy Protection: On-call doctor’s number is masked during callbacks, ensuring privacy. 
• Message forwarding for urgent and non-urgent matters: Providers can forward messages to his/her colleagues, appointment team or MA, etc.  
• On-call reminder: Send reminders to the on-call doctor 30 minutes before their schedule starts 
• Transfer the on-call duty without an administrative hassle: In On-the-fly transfer of on-call duties to a colleague during any emergency for the Provider ensuring seamless coverage. 
• Unlimited calls: Unlimited after-hour calls and voicemails from hospitals and patients.  
• Note Documentation and Forwarding: Add notes to memorialize conversations with patient/hospital staff and forward those notes to clinic staff to direct an action or add to the patient’s EMR for documentation. 

Why Should Doctors Care More About the Quality of Their Medical Answering Service? 

Quality of Medical Answering Service is vital in providing After-Hour Clinic Communication services. It helps to identify after-hours patient care needs, reduce errors, and mitigate liability risks. The quality and efficiency of medical answering services directly impact the early determination of call urgency. Recognizing the urgency level can allow timely intervention and appropriate follow-up care resulting in best patient outcomes.  

Timely care of the patients leads to reduced unnecessary visits to emergency rooms or general practitioners.    

In conclusion, a high-quality medical answering service plays a pivotal role in enhancing patient satisfaction and retention. The efficiency and quality of these services, exemplified by Doctoc‘s innovative approach, ensure that patients receive prompt attention and appropriate care even during non-working hours.