Dedicated Virtual Receptionists: A Trusted Hospital Manager Companion

As a healthcare executive, what keeps you up at night? If you’re like 82% of your peers across the US, it’s attracting and retaining clinical and non-clinical talent (PwC Pulse Survey: Focused on reinvention). 

Among this talent are qualified, medically trained, and experienced virtual receptionists proficient at using EHR and other healthcare software, and essential to keep patient bookings flowing without any disruptions.

And while those professionals aren’t easy to find, fortunately, in the current era, they are well-equipped to perform their duties remotely. That expands the pool of specialists beyond your state, helping you solve a burning headache known to every hospital or clinical manager — delays in over-the-phone patient service.

Why is it worth tapping on that pool of medical virtual receptionists? Read on.

#1 The Investment Pays Back — And Generates Income

The average gross medical receptionist salary in New York City is $49,520, or an equivalent hourly rate of $24. In California, the year average is similar, with the salaries of healthcare front-office workers ranging between $45,137 and $53,941 annually (based on various sources, including indeed.com and salary.com). These numbers do not include the extra costs of recruitment and onboarding, and of running HR expenses. 

Given these estimates, relying on external Epic® EHR or other electronic health records, fluent virtual receptionists may bring significant savings. By streamlining phone service, a respected cross-state clinic, one of our clients reduced yearly expenses by nearly $50,000, thanks to process optimization, HR-related cost cuts, and generated time savings. 

When we try to quantify the value of instant, relevant, and professional over-the-phone service and EHR bookings and add the savings from the reduced no-show rates and missed appointments, the financial benefits become apparent.

#2 You Get Fast Access to Trained EHR Professionals

Epic® EHR requires an equally epic training path to master. The software comprises dozens of comprehensive modules, and becoming proficient with them when data needs to be retrieved, updated, and populated instantly can be challenging. Hence, training courses on using the platform last six to eight weeks, while many facilities need EHR support immediately.

Again, virtual receptionists are the answer. At Patient Connect, we can help you quickly find the right medically trained, experienced professionals with Epic® EHR certification. All our specialists come from healthcare backgrounds, having served in physicians' offices, hospitals, 911 dispatch centers, and ambulance services. 

On average, they have been with us for over 6 years, with many staying with our business since its foundation. That translates to more than 25 years of service to your hospital and patients, backed by industry certification, HIPAA compliance, and alignment with all the latest patient data privacy and protection regulations.

#3 No Urgent Call Goes Unanswered

According to one well-known study, waiting on hold longer than a minute causes 60% of callers to hang up. Although this research was conducted some time ago, not much has changed in this respect, with patients often stranded for minutes before someone can help them. 

Hopefully, the call service at your hospital or clinic isn’t as notorious as that of the Medicaid call centers (in the record-breaker Missouri, it was 48 minutes, on average). Still, the more effective your team is at answering calls and resolving patient concerns, the more people they can serve and the greater their satisfaction. 

By engaging virtual receptionists trained in Epic®, you can reduce hold times for reaching your facility by up to 30%. That’s one-third of an improvement in your service and positive patient feedback, which translates into increased profit.

Virtual Receptionists Trained in Epic® — Resolving Hospital Issues

Finding a qualified person to handle your patient bookings via Epic® EHR can be extremely challenging in the tight healthcare job market. Fortunately, thanks to tried-and-tested solutions like dedicated virtual receptionists, you can instantly bridge employment gaps in your hospital and eliminate at least one common pet peeve of all hospital executives—understaffing. 

So, while you attend to other critical issues for your facility, like risk management or cost efficiency, our virtual receptionists can start handling your calls immediately. ➡️ Start here!