{"id":12388,"date":"2023-11-20T10:40:52","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T18:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/?p=12388"},"modified":"2023-12-01T10:12:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T18:12:38","slug":"anatomy-of-a-good-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/anatomy-of-a-good-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Anatomy of a Good Call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Making the Most of Every Patient Phone Call<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The telephone is the lifeline of every health care practice. It\u2019s how patients schedule appointments, ask questions and get the care they need. That\u2019s why handling phone calls with care and professionalism is so important. Being efficient during a call is one thing, but turning that caller into a raving fan of the practice during an ordinary call is quite another. It\u2019s important that your front office staff understand the nuances of their job to ensure the patient experience is positive during every phone call. This Ask Fuel First article answers the following question: <strong>How can my front office staff make a difference in the patient experience during a phone call?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Ask Fuel First: The Anatomy of a Good Call\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/890052283?app_id=122963\" width=\"1400\" height=\"788\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Telephone: Your Lifeline to Patients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The telephone is at the center of every practice\u2019s success. Patients won\u2019t be scheduled if no one answers the phone, and the practice would lose income for missed appointments. In addition, each call is an opportunity to drive patient satisfaction and improve their experience and feelings about the practice, which is why each phone call should be handled with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every second of a phone call is important. With each call, you can win the patient over or leave them with a mediocre or even negative experience. We hope you\u2019re striving to make a patient connection every time. But now the question is: How? This article discusses four parts that make up the anatomy of a good call and drive patient satisfaction: 1) call etiquette, 2) handling patient data, 3) answering calls efficiently and 4) being professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Call Etiquette<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you ever had a negative experience with a customer service representative on the phone? After pressing all the right buttons, were you either disconnected before talking to a real person or did the person who answered not listen to what you had to say? Maybe the person on the other line told you all of the things you couldn\u2019t do and never offered a solution to a problem you were having. If you answered yes, you are not alone. Unfortunately, these experiences are all too common. But this doesn\u2019t have to be the case at your practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When staff answers the phone at your practice, they should focus on providing an appropriate greeting, putting patients at ease when it\u2019s clear they\u2019re stressed and thanking the caller for their time. Saying things like \u201cThank you for choosing us\u201d or \u201cLet me help you get that taken care of\u201d are small additions to the conversation but leave a lasting impression in letting callers know that the staff cares about their business. Also, saying something like \u201cI\u2019m sorry you\u2019re going through that; I\u2019m here to help\u201d is one way to acknowledge the caller\u2019s situation. Ending the call by saying \u201cthank you\u201d leaves the call on a positive note. You\u2019re probably asking yourself, \u201cAren\u2019t people saying these types of things on calls already?\u201d You\u2019d be surprised how often the answer to that question is \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Handling Patient Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With every patient call, patient data is being exchanged, whether it be information shared as patients describe symptoms they\u2019re having in the hope of seeing a doctor or the demographic\/insurance information needed for claims and data processing that they provide. When speaking with patients, your staff should constantly be asking for data to update their account information, such as their current address or phone number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Patients expect to be asked for information but don\u2019t want to feel like it\u2019s all about the data instead of being listened to and heard. Callers may feel put off when there isn\u2019t an appropriate transition. Consider coaching staff on a transition such as \u201cThank you for telling me the reason for your call. Before I help you with that, would you mind if I update your information in my system?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With all of this data flying around, it\u2019s important that the practice\u2019s staff handle it efficiently and confidentially. Besides being trained for HIPAA specifically, practices should have clear guidelines on which data to collect and when. When giving patients data, be sure to ask if they\u2019d like it repeated and verify they understand; many callers have hearing loss, so this is an important step. Also, your staff should explain medical terminology or processes because the average person won\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Answering Calls Efficiently<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before your staff can take steps to become efficient, they\u2019ll need to know the purpose of the call. Inbound calls often generate appointments, which, in turn, generate revenue for the practice. Sometimes, booking an appointment is straightforward. A patient calls in asking for an appointment, and the staff checks the practice\u2019s schedule to find a suitable time. Other times, they\u2019ll need to convince the patient that your practice is right for them. Either way, your staff drives the conversation, fills gaps in the practice\u2019s schedule and influences patients\u2019 opinions of the practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To drive phone conversations, they should avoid asking open-ended questions. When asked, \u201dWhen would you like to come in?\u201d that caller is in the driver\u2019s seat. Instead, staff should ask, \u201cLet\u2019s get you in. Do you prefer morning or evening appointments?\u201d This gives the caller two easy choices and drives the conversation towards empty time slots, which is more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When a caller isn\u2019t sure about making an appointment, staff should have a 30-second elevator pitch ready. The elevator pitch highlights a difference that makes your practice better than others. If an established patient seems unsatisfied, they can also use the elevator pitch-type approach, but only after they\u2019ve attempted to understand any issues they may have. If you or your team are stumped on building an elevator pitch, ask, \u201cWhat makes us different from somewhere else? Why should people come here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another aspect of efficiency is trying to answer patient questions thoughtfully and concisely every time. As health care evolves, there are new laws, technologies and services that patients will inquire about. Staff should answer questions when they\u2019re confident they know the answer. However, if they need more clarification on a question, it is always better to refer to the correct person or tell the caller they\u2019ll have to find a solution and then call them back rather than giving false\/incorrect information. And then actually call them back with an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Be Professional<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It comes as no surprise that staff should remain professional and polite even during challenging calls. Working at the front desk involves elements of sales and customer service. Inbound calls mean new patients and more business for the practice. Professionalism and rapport building are essential at all times, especially when potential patients call, to elevate each patient\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first step is for staff to be polite. Being polite can mean different things to different people, but we believe it is important to actively listen to patients when they talk by avoiding interruptions and speaking in a professional and friendly tone. If a conversation is wildly off-topic, staff should wait for a pause and then find a polite transition to bring the conversation back on topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When staff use appropriate call etiquette, handle patient data with confidence, answer calls efficiently and are professional, this helps to make each patient\u2019s experience positive. Simply put, patients expect their experience to be good; it\u2019s when staff are intentional about making sure they feel valued that the experience becomes memorable. If you\u2019d like more information on the anatomy of a good call or front office training, please contact Fuel Medical\u2019s Professional Development team at ProfDev@FuelMedical.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Making the Most of Every Patient Phone Call The telephone is the lifeline of every health care practice. It\u2019s how patients schedule appointments, ask questions and get the care they need. That\u2019s why handling phone calls with care and professionalism is so important. Being efficient during a call is one thing, but turning that caller&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","header_content":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","credentials":"","position":"","tenure":"","department":"","location":"","apply_url":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[],"article_type":[12,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12388"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12388"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12476,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12388\/revisions\/12476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12388"},{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuelmedical.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_type?post=12388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}