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09/14/2015 Steven J. Kaniadakis, DPM
Call Center (Scott Werter, DPM)
I think the context of Dr. Werter's post is directed towards an answering service, rather than a "call center." This is an excellent plan. It was one of the secrets to my practice success. I had a very detailed "telephone protocol" outline for the people answering the phone calls.
Design an algorithm to address virtually all concerns people typically ask from your practice experience. For example, "if they ask this, then say that. If they say 'yes' then say this". It will be no else's fault but your own if this system is not working.
Have the service answer with your practice's name. Have a back line for calls to become "patched through" to your office staff" to a non- published line. I had 12 (twelve) phone lines and one Fax line. Back lines should include your mobile phone when staff is not responsive, even forwarded to it.
Establish a separate line for report on every caller, and the answering service's staff's written messages to be sent to your office, including a notation of callers patched the the back line. Make new patient appointments for "noon" (generic time). People can always adjust it later.
Do not say someone will call you back to make appointments. Stay alerted to feedback on an ongoing basis from people who have answered the phone for your practice in the past and from those people and patients in the future. If people calling ask if it is an answering service, then have those answering the phone be candid. However, they should be instructed to sound like the phone staff are your office.
Set times when reports will be sent in by batches to your office staff. Establish a priority order for when the reports shall be sent, and listed in an a prioritized method when all messages are sent. Starting with post-op, and pre-op patient callers, new patients, established patients. Last in the order, sales, vendor and supplier messages.
Use a format for messages, name, phone, reason, other comments. Typically, it was my practice to prefer to have all established patients call our in-house lines and staff. It is best not to tell patients the doctor's status, on vacation, the out to lunch, and things like this.
Typical dialog goes like this, "The doctor's in surgery", or "in with a patient". Avoid saying "he", "she", instead call people by their names, including your staff, or say their title (Mr., assistant, nurse) and "patient". Do not leave any thing for granted.
Steven J. Kaniadakis, DPM, St. Petersburg, FL
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