Presenting a disease or symptoms of some condition suggest that the immediate and perhaps “obvious” action is to consult a specialist, however, this does not always happen. The reasons may vary, however, one of them is obvious.
According to a survey of Statistical, carried out in 2020 among people who at some point had presented symptoms of a disease and who stated that they had decided not to see a doctor, 43% gave the fact that the health professional did not offer an efficient service or did not provide the main reason. had a medical appointment program that prioritized having a timely consultation. This same data is consistent with the information presented by the World Justice Project Access to Health and Rule of Law Survey.
Although both studies were carried out in the context of the pandemic and the confinement due to COVID-19, so far the figures have not improved. According to data from DoctoraliaOn average, clinics do not respond to 40% of calls, that is, two to three calls a day, of which at least 20% were to schedule an appointment.
This is mainly because: the office does not have enough capacity to answer calls that are made outside of business hours (49% of appointments are made outside of business hours) and as a result it is difficult for patients find health professionals available and receive care.
There are additional factors, for example, calls being spliced during peak hours, administrative staff performing other activities, or missed calls not being tracked.
Faced with this situation, and in order not to lose potential patients, there are some strategies that can be implemented: schedule voice messages to be played when for any reason you cannot answer, transfer calls to less busy lines, optimize reception tasks or install a call management system to keep an automatic control and intelligent and return all that could not be answered.
In a context where 90% of calls are not returned, returning calls is one of the best practices a clinic can adopt, because most callers want to schedule an appointment or request information that will lead to future appointments. So, by returning a call, in addition to one more appointment in their calendar, the clinic will have grateful patients, which translates into a better customer experience, as well as an increase in revenue.
In general, according to Forrester CX Index 2020, when a business makes its customers feel appreciated, 76% say they will stick with it and 87% will recommend it to friends and family. At the end of the day, what a clinic is looking for is to have loyal patients because they receive good care and the best service, and this is possible thanks to automation.
Call management software allows you to keep track of all incoming calls so that you can return them, thereby improving the quality of patient care. It also has other scopes: the metrics obtained from call management work to measure the patient experience and take measures to optimize it, as well as create marketing campaigns and analyze the results to see if it is going in the right direction.
Without a doubt, technology is a strategic ally for clinics seeking to improve their services and respond to all the calls they receive, but above all, to have satisfied and happy patients. For best results, it is important to consult with specialists who analyze the needs of each clinic to provide the best solutions.