Think back to your first interaction with your doctor’s office. Mine was a simple phone call. A friend had recommended the clinic, and I wanted to see if they accepted my insurance. Once the receptionist confirmed they did, I asked a few questions about their specific services. After chatting for a few minutes, I was ready to make an appointment. They transferred me to the scheduling department, and a few minutes later, I had an appointment booked for the following week.

The whole experience was pretty seamless, with minimal wait times, efficient service, and a quick scheduling experience.

First impressions can make or break an interaction. And most of the time, a patient’s first impression of a medical practice comes from a phone call. That’s why it’s crucial to ensure they have a positive experience. If not, you risk losing them as a patient.

In fact, a Consumer Survey found that 74% of people will choose another business after one poor phone experience. It also found that 70% of people with a bad phone experience will complain to friends and family, 30% will leave a bad review, and 24% will complain on social media. Talk about a double-edged sword.

It’s no longer enough to be a great doctor or practitioner. You must ensure your team can provide excellent service across every touchpoint. Remember: they aren’t just patients — they’re your customers.

Like customers shopping in Target or Nordstrom or guests at Olive Garden, your patients pay for your services. They have some of the same expectations for your practice as they do when shopping and dining. Namely, they don’t want to wait for long, they want their needs met promptly, and they want friendly, personalized interactions.

A virtual contact center can help you do all of this and more.

The Benefits of a Virtual Contact Center for Medical Practices

Contact centers used to be a “necessary evil” in the healthcare industry, but technological advances have helped flip this narrative. Now, virtual contact centers can help with patient requests, handle administrative tasks, and help build trust between providers and patients.

Let’s dive into some of the benefits of a virtual contact center.

• Limited up-front investment
• Quick and easy installation
• Advanced call routing (so your patients are automatically routed to the best agent to help with their concerns)
• HIPAA-compliant communications and information sharing
• Easily scale up or down to meet changing call volumes (like during flu season or a global pandemic, for instance)
• Improved flexibility and connectivity
• Cost savings
• A cloud platform (so everything is accessible via the cloud, anywhere there’s Internet access)
• Omnichannel services

Still not convinced? A virtual contact center can also help improve patient satisfaction by:

• Fielding after-hours calls
• Scheduling appointments
• Confirming appointments
• Reaching out to patients with test results
• Completing intake for new patients

Learn more about how your practice can benefit from contact center technology here.

GoContact Can Help Your Practice

Our virtual contact center solution, GoContact, has what you need to provide an outstanding, professional, and easy patient and employee experience. It has enterprise-level features like queue callback, omnichannel support, call routing, and CSAT surveys, so you can provide the best experience for your patients.

Schedule a demo with one of our consultants to learn more.