Doctors Answering Services Can Meet the Needs of Hospice Care Agencies

If your business provides hospice services to patients and their caretakers, you are in a healthcare area with special needs. As you search for a doctors answering service, it is important to find one that caters to the unique needs of hospice care.

Hospice and home-healthcare callers can be patients or family members reaching out for advice and counsel during very stressful times. These people are part of a very vulnerable and special group. They need to be treated with great care, understanding and respect. A doctors reply service that specializes in this industry should be equipped to provide prompt and compassionate care.

Agents of a doctors answering service specializing in hospice care should receive special training so that they have not only knowledge about the industry but an understanding of what to expect from callers before they handle those calls. Ask how the doctors answering service you are considering trains its agents. Be sure role playing is a large part of the training program the agents complete so they are familiar with the different types of questions and concerns that hospice patients and their caretakers might have.

Another important factor when choosing a doctors answering service is the technology being used. Long gone are the days of standard-fill "message tickets." Look for a service with software that allows agents to capture all critical information and then guides them through specific protocols based on the answers to questions. This ensures accurate call handling by the doctors response service.

More and more hospice agencies and facilities are seeing the benefit of customized client call reports. Your doctors response service should provide reports that show the client's information and needs, which staff member was dispatched, how they were contacted and the response time. These reports are very helpful when measuring performance of the hospice staff and the level of care to the clients.

A doctors answering service should have measures in place that ensure 24/7 coverage. This means having back ups in place for when electrical outages occur, when interruptions in phone service happen and when software and hardware failures develop. Many doctors replying services will have solutions that include back-up generators and off-site, back-up plans.

Don't forget to consider your callers bilingual needs, too. What language is predominate in your market, and does the doctors answering service provide the support you need? Especially during a stressful time such as hospice care, patients and family members may be more comfortable speaking in their native language. Find out if the doctors answering service offers the flexibility of 24/7 bilingual services so you know if it is an option now and in the future.

Finally, you want to be sure the doctors response service is experienced and able to provide references, especially ones in the same industry. This is a company whose agents are a critical link between you and your clients, and you need to know quality service is only a phone call away, 24 hours a day for your hospice patients and their caretakers.

Judy O'Brien is a freelance writer for Alert Communications, which offers a variety of alertcommunications.com/physicians-answering-service.php doctors answering services, virtual receptionist services and californiaansweringservices.com/answering-services-los-angeles.php call answering services.