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BUSINESS OF
MEDICINE

A Solution for After-Hours

Medical Call Processing

in Bexar County

By Dan Kilday, Circle of Friends member

Many physicians in San Antonio will experience a change regard- go back and listen to a call? Never use a call center that cannot
ing after-hours call handling this year. It can be a scary time for a follow these requirements.
practice to undergo a change with such a trusted part of the con-
nection between the patient and physician. 3. Bilingual Agents. Communicating with our Spanish speaking
Time is a valuable commodity in the medical profession. For a patients is imperative for a thriving practice in South Texas. It
physician, time is just as precious on the job as it is away from it. should go without saying that your call center should be able to
Knowing that your patients are in great hands while away from the handle calls from those who are unable to speak English. A
office is crucial to your peace of mind. Working with a quality med- bilingual medical call center is of the upmost importance.
ical call center to process your after-hours calls can make a huge
difference. 4. Texas Based Agents. The “buy local” mantra is used for every-
But how do you choose the right medical call center for your thing from book stores to beef in our state. It creates a huge
practice? What attributes are most important? boost to the local economy and helps provide more jobs for our
community. This can also apply to your medical call center. But
Below, you’ll find important tips on what you’ll need to there’s more to it than just dollars and cents. When a patient
look for to select the highest quality call processing calls, it’s comforting to know that the person on the other end
service for your patients.
is a local citizen who knows the area.

1. Longevity. Believe it or not, the call center industry is a rough
5. Easy On-Call Scheduling. For larger practices with a compli-
business! It’s very difficult for a company to survive for long
cated on-call schedule, this attribute can be a life saver. It’s im-
unless they provide service above and beyond the many com-
portant to find a call center with a web portal that allows you to
petitors out there. It’s a 24 hour a day, 365 day a year business
input and adjust the on-call schedule easily. For example, if you
with an enormous amount of responsibility when it comes to
have one provider listed as the on-call for Thursday and he or
handling emergency calls. Finding a service that has been around
she calls in sick, you can easily go in and replace that person on
for a long time instantly tells you that it has provided an out-
the schedule. You don’t have to call or email the call center. The
standing service which allowed it to survive and prosper over
change is automatically updated on the other end and the dis-
many years.
patch will contact the replacement instead. This saves time and
energy for everybody involved.
2. Security. We live in a time where sensitive information can be
hacked and stolen daily. It’s extremely important to protect this
6. Time-Based Billing. It’s important to understand how your
information by working with companies that follow HIPAA
billing works with your medical call center provider to make sure
guidelines, using encrypted coding for SMS messages. It’s also
that you’re getting the best “bang for your buck,” with the serv-
important to ask where your information is stored. Is it in a
ice. Time based billing is, by far, the most cost-effective and ef-
highly secure, tier-4 data center? Is the data center in compliance
ficient way to track your usage. Think of it this way… A call
with HIPAA? Are calls recorded and stored in case you need to
comes in and it’s a wrong number. The call center immediately
22 San Antonio Medicine • February 2019