The fact that your medical office receptionist has her hands full with patients checking in and out means that your business is doing well. However, it also means that there's this 20% chance that you will be losing new customers because your receptionist no longer has the time to answer phone calls. 20% is the estimated rate of new potential customers calling in to inquire about your services or to schedule an appointment with you. In order to get that 20% while keeping your existing customers fully satisfied with your receptionist's customer service, you will need a virtual receptionist.

Better Customer Relations

While your staff is busy accommodating the patients coming in and out, your virtual receptionist can take care of those who are on the phone. This way, your staff can better focus on the welfare of your existing patients thereby making the experience more pleasant for them. Pertinent paperwork can be filed faster and patient or doctor requests will be responded to in a timely manner.

On the other hand, your automated system can tirelessly call new patients to remind them of their appointments and accept calls requesting for appointments. And since every call is logged into a central database, the likelihood of double booking is greatly reduced.

Better Security

Human receptionists sometimes become lenient with rules especially if they know the person requesting access to patient information. But with a virtual receptionist, rules are rules. Whatever permission settings you have previously set will be the exact ones that will be implemented. In addition, an automated system runs over a secure SSL so there's no risk of identity theft and other unethical medical practices.

Also, only the time and date of the booked appointments will be seen online. Your patient's personal information will be kept in a central database and they will just be emailed a copy together with instructions for their next appointment.

Better Accuracy in Appointment Setting

Human error is eminent especially when it comes to appointment setting. There are times that a medical office front desk receptionist will not or cannot even book the appointment on your patient's preferred schedule. Other times, there are two or more bookings in one slot.

A virtual receptionist eliminates such possibility because it automatically closes a slot once a patient has already booked it. Instead the system, through its speech recognition technology, will offer the next available slot that is closest to the patient's preferences.

Further, a person who books an appointment through the online scheduler will not be allowed to reserve more than two slots. Hence, there is little room for abuse.

Better Understanding of Patients Needs

Patients are different in terms of language, needs and preferences. A human receptionist may find it difficult to meet all patients' demands but a 24/7 backup receptionist can. Since it operates 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, patients will not be limited to the traditional office hours. Also, when the system calls a patient for an appointment reminder, special notes can be included.

A virtual receptionist is an important part of office automation. So make sure that you choose the right program for your medical practice. Other aspects to consider are the cost, maintenance and a host of other features and benefits.

If you need a virtual receptionist who interacts with each of your patients, then contact AngelSpeech, the best automated medical office receptionist provider.

Jane Susaeta is a professional writer with a background in SEO. She has been commissioned to do a wide range of writing tasks, such as writing ebooks, EzineAritcles, product reviews, web content, SEO articles, blog posts and sales letters.

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