8 Patient Call Types That Benefit from Structured Call Handling [Infographic]

Medical practices are called for a variety of reasons, ranging from a scheduled appointment to messages that need to be escalated as quickly as possible. If there is no standard process in place to determine the nature and urgency of a call, staff will spend time extracting messages, and callers will be left hanging.

A doctor’s answering service can have a clear system set up to take incoming messages, then file them, and forward them to the correct department, using a pre-arranged decision-making pathway. Automated call handling can be extremely helpful after hours or during busy times, when staff are preoccupied and cannot always answer the phone.

There are various types of calls that need different responses; thus, a precise classification and routing should be part of the system.

The infographic below highlights eight common patient call types that can benefit from structured call handling.