Archive for Medical Call Center
Return on Expectations
Posted by: | CommentsLast month we introduced a term of measuring success called ROE, return on expectations. It is common practice for businesses to seek qualified ROI (return on investment) information when buying a product or service. Cosmopolitan often provides diligent calculations of long-term and short-term benefits with estimated ROI data when helping potential customers evaluate our services. During this exercise, we also help define and clarify the ROE. Return on expectations enables you to set the parameters of success and set the real value of meeting your business needs. It is putting up the goal post and eliminates misunderstandings and the need for continuous clarifications. Setting proper ROE helps everyone to work on achievements, benefiting the contact and providing a winning relationship for all.
First appeared in our March 2013 newsletter.
Engage with Every Contact
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The first factor of creating a WOW experience at Cosmopolitan Medical Communications is to properly engage every contact through careful listening and qualification of their specific and unique needs. Excelling in engagement is critical when it comes to supporting our large medically-based clientele, whether helping set an appointment or managing an urgent care situation.
Engagement is the demonstration of a promise, a commitment to taking care of the contact. Giving proper time for the contact to express their question or concern and responding with accurate, clear information are all qualifiers to providing outstanding engagement. The measure of success is when the contact is in agreement to the outcome. It is very important to measure success of each engagement. It provides the opportunity for continuous improvement in delivery and customer satisfaction, ultimately creating the WOW experience.
Best Aspects of Medical Contact Centers
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In order to make sure patients are receiving the best care and are able to get in contact with the necessary parties, their medical call center needs to be efficient and organized.
Medical facilities utilize call centers because they handle the large amount of incoming calls in a manner that properly aids patients and doesn’t overwhelm the physicians or nurses. A well-structured system benefits all parties and allows them to move forward successfully.
There are quite a few ways to best manage a medical contact center, but the most important aspects are those that revolve around:
Speedy communication: Patients appreciate it when their calls are answered in a rapid fashion, they aren’t put on hold for very long and the representative on the line is helpful and useful. The Care Transitions Journal says it’s best to be on the line with a patient in no more than three rings, and it’s important to transfer them to a registered nurse as soon as possible.
Accessible information: Organize information systems and access in a manner that functions best for representatives, allowing them to quickly attend to callers’ needs. Don’t let the call abandonment rates spike just because reps aren’t able to get the information fast enough.
Customer satisfaction: Each patient or caller will have a different situation and it’s important that the medical call center is able to handle whatever comes their way. Make sure that callers are satisfied with their service and have had their problems solved accurately.
Measuring the metrics of these three key parts is not always easy, but it’s important to know how the success of the center is coming or not coming along. There may be areas of improvement within these three sectors that could exponentially help customers as well as make the call-back time a lot faster.
This article is featured in our CosmoMed March 2013 Newsletter.
Are you using Cosmopolitan Secure Messaging? Our HIPAA compliant messaging application provides doctors the security needed to communicate with each other, their staffs, provider organizations and patients. Communications are transmitted through a secure SSL app. We can send messages to any smart device, including tablets and iPads in your office. Contact us to learn more!
How We Deliver WOW!
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- Engage with Every Contact
- Match Pace and Tone
- Be Knowledgeable and Confident
- Personalize Every Contact
- Use Manners - May I, Please, Thank You
- Repeat and Spell for Accuracy
- Explain Why
- Maintain Call Control
- Demonstrate Voice Quality
- Show Positive and Friendly Attitude
Practice and commitment helps us stay focused on exceeding expectations with every contact.
Defining Live Answer Protocol
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For more than 35 years, Cosmopolitan Medical Communications has been exclusively serving the healthcare community with live answer calls.
We know the protocols for every practice, physician and group are different. The expertise required to represent a broad base of practices and medical groups, including physicians, specialists, psychologists, counselors, dentists as well as large hospitals, care and hospice facilities and practice groups comes from a continual investment in advancing technologies, specialized training and quality team members.
Getting started with a new client requires stringent protocols for defining the relationship and all interactions. We understand medical live answer services require more than a flip of the switch. Simply picking up calls without proper due diligence is a failed approach to serving the caller and the medical professional. It does not work.
Initial setup for our clients includes detailed account planning sessions to identify each action Cosmopolitan will take for every type of contact, from HIPAA compliant SMS messaging with practitioners to appointment scheduling, and even handling emergency situations. Understanding our client’s needs and requirements includes learning operational management for handling contacts, identifying key medical terminology and outlining specific procedures for the types of patients or contacts.
Our live answer protocol plays a critical role in how we deliver our services. We must be able to differentiate medical answering service needs for a diverse set of client requirements. Technology, call scripting and training all have an important role in the set up and management of client protocols. We continually invest in operational success through programs that reward tenure, provide continual training and reinforce quality assurance by measuring every component of a live answer engagement.
Live medical answering services must be representative as an extension of the provider, whether we are handling overflow calls, after hour support, urgent care situations, setting appointments or operating as the front-line contact for all calls. Your live answer provider should be as diligent in setting the protocols for your contacts as you are about delivering the best care.
Are You Taking Advantage of Smart Technology in 2013
Posted by: | CommentsPaging Doctor Digital! In a age of smartphone technology, there are many physicians still carrying more than one communication device. Are you still using a single digital or antiquated analog pager to receive your messages? Do you rely on faxes messages? It is time to upgrade! Take advantage of the cost savings and efficiency of encrypted emails and secure SMS messages delivered to your smart device.
The digital age is here to stay. We can help protect your secure communications. We work with hundreds of practitioners. Call today to upgrade your account to the most current communication technology for faster and smarter access to your important medical communications!
Here are some of the benefits of secure messaging on your smart device:
• Messages are stored securely
• Messages are encrypted during transmission
• Messages are PIN protected upon delivery
• Fully HIPAA, HITECH, GLBA, and SOX compliant
• Customized message notifications and reminders
• Send / receive secure messages from fellow physicians and providers
Contact us today to sign up for this service and register your device.
HIPAA Compliant Secure Text Messaging Now Available
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Do you receive SMS (text) messages regarding your patients? Cosmopolitan Medical Communications has the technology and capability to securely communicate with your mobile device. Our solution is a feature-rich, Secure Messaging application that allows you to stay more inline with HIPAA and HITECH guidelines and most up-to-date technology.
What is Secure Messaging?
Secure Messaging is an application, or app, that is available to Apple, Android, and BlackBerry mobile devices. Once installed, this app allows you to send and receive encrypted, secure messages to and from Cosmopolitan Medical Communications. This ensures compliance with privacy rules and regulations, and peace of mind knowing protected health information (PHI) stays confidential. The Secure Messaging app is easy to setup and is loaded with convenient features. With the touch of a finger, you can dial the caller’s number, call Cosmopolitan, or reply to the message. You can also send and receive secure messages among other devices running Secure Messaging.
Why are secure messages so important?
HIPAA, HITECH, GLBA, and SOX all contain requirements for ensuring the safety of private information. Our Secure Messaging app keeps private information private and is HIPAA, HITECH, GLBA, and SOX compliant.
Benefits of Secure Messaging:
- Messages are stored securely
- Messages are encrypted during transmission
- Messages are PIN protected upon delivery
- Fully HIPAA, HITECH, GLBA, and SOX compliant
- Customized message notifications and reminders
- Send / receive secure messages from fellow physicians and providers
Custom Notifications
Text messaging is fast, reliable, and convenient. However, a shortcoming has always been the inadequacy of device notifications. Secure Messaging solves this with custom notification settings. Notification sound, vibration, pop-ups, and reminders are all configurable to ensure you never miss a message.
Contact us today to sign up for this service and register your device.
Power Outages Recovery
Posted by: | CommentsHospitals and medical centers are the life support system in times of both crisis and general healthcare. Over the past few years, a large part of the country has experienced severe weather-related disasters, including damage from hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If a power outage occurs, monitors, oxygen pumps, and other valuable equipment can stop working and threaten the lives and well-being of patients. Power outages cannot be predicted and can sometimes last as long as two weeks; but with some planning, your medical center can be prepared when a disaster strikes.
Most power outages seem to occur during the spring and summer months, and with us approaching this time again, we are here to let you know there are a number of steps you can take to minimize the effects of an outage to your medical center. We’ve developed a list that will help you create an efficient disaster recovery plan and drastically reduce the negative effects to your company:
- Identify your risks and establish a recovery location for back-up systems, records, and supplies.
- Know the contact information for your patients’ families, vendors, etc.
- Have access to multiple and reliable methods of communicating with your staff and patients.
- Enlist the help of backup power generators!
Using Cosmopolitan Medical Communications as your off-site medical answering service would be highly beneficial to your medical center. We can quickly pull the needed resources to take over your center until you’re back on your feet. In the meantime, Cosmopolitan can handle your phone calls, schedule appointments, take messages, and more. We are available 24 hours a day to respond to patients concerns, and offer peace of mind to you and your staff.
Call us today to start your disaster recovery plan!
Bilingual Medical Call Center
Posted by: | CommentsWhat happens when you receive a frantic call from a first time mother requesting an emergency appointment for their young child? Did we mention she is speaking Spanish and it’s 2 a.m.? Language can certainly be an obstacle when scheduling medical services on the telephone, wasting time and possibly losing revenue through miscommunication. Save your staff the stress of trying to break down this barrier by using our professional bilingual medical call center!
At Cosmopolitan Medical Communications, we provide your office and patients with 24-hour bilingual services. Cosmopolitan Medical bilingual Team Members are trained to provide Spanish-speaking patients with excellent customer service. Our bilingual Team can also answer many patient questions; however, we also know that there are questions that only a physician should answer. In this case, we will be sure to leave a detailed message for the doctor to follow up with the patient during office hours. If the on-call doctor doesn’t speak Spanish, AnswerNow will be able to provide bilingual interpretation between the patient and the Doctor.
Your Spanish-speaking patients will feel cared for and they will have the confidence that their health is in the best care possible, no matter what time, day or night. Cosmopolitan will follow an on-call schedule provided by your practices so as not to disturb anyone who does not need to be bothered. We are here to answer your phone calls around the clock so that you don’t have to.
It can be difficult for a company to employ enough staff members to ensure their Spanish-speaking clients are served, let alone provided with the same level of quality service that the company aims to deliver.
Make sure and contact us today!
Cosmopolitan Helps Nurses
Posted by: | CommentsPatients receive a lot of information after their appointment: prescriptions, personal care and follow-up instructions, so it’s no surprise that your office may experience an abundance of calls two or three days later to ask questions regarding their post-discharge instructions. We’ve already mentioned a few ways to relieve some of the stress of your nurses with our “Love Your Nurses” blog, including taking them off phones and delegating responsibilities amongst staff. You can read the full post here.
We know it can be a challenge for patients to come home from the hospital and keep track of all their vital post-discharge responsibilities. So what happens when your patients are filling up the phone lines with requests for information regarding follow-up instructions and questions about medications? Cosmopolitan is here to help streamline this by offering support not only to the patients, but to you and your medical staff working hard to fill the void.
We offer follow-up calls at 24-hour and 72-hour intervals or any customized time as determined by your office, ensuring your patients are on track. We assist with instructions, prescription routines, follow-up appointments, and many other common questions. By using our service, you and your staff save valuable office time, the patient feels supported, and all their needs are met in the most professional manner by the partnership between our staff and yours.
Call us today to get a quote! 1-800-900-0101