The medical industry is never static. It constantly evolves, with new procedures and new technologies constantly becoming the norm. But at the same time, patients have also evolved. Their needs and preferences have also changed, often due to their familiarity with technology. Patients have become used to conducting their business and many social interactions via the internet and making use of smartphones. When your patients have become so sophisticated in the use of technology, it means the healthcare industry also needs to up its game regarding patient interaction. This largely means that your practice may need to focus on improved patient satisfaction by supplying a convenient, personalized, and highly efficient healthcare experience.
As a healthcare professional, you can view this change as an opportunity to improve and enhance your practice’s functionality. This change may put you in the position to implement changes that not only positively affect your patient experience, but the running of your practice as well, leading to improved patient satisfaction. Hiring virtual medical assistants to take over certain tasks may offer the solution you seek. These professionals can easily fit into your practice’s various processes and become valuable team members.
Before looking at how hiring a virtual medical assistant leads to improved client satisfaction, let us first take a look at the benefits of hiring these professionals for your healthcare practice. An increasing number of medical environments are integrating virtual medical assistants into their practices. A growing consensus suggests that the potential benefits of these hires may far outweigh any perceived drawbacks. As a result, the demand for qualified medical virtual assistants has drastically risen.
An increasing number of healthcare providers have seen the monetary benefits of including virtual workers on their teams. The main reason is the vast savings in salaries each month. At the same time, though, they may experience increased patient satisfaction because they can hire more people, thereby ensuring increased personal patient interaction.
While virtual medical assistants increase your medical practice’s manpower, hiring them also reduces your staffing costs drastically. For example, you may need less physical space and equipment as you would for an in-house hire. You could thus potentially move into a smaller physical space while offering the same, or even better, services. You could also use this increased space to introduce new procedures into the practice.
Professional virtual medical assistants from Cool Blue VA are well-trained individuals with the skills and expertise needed to proactively assist medical practices in conducting administrative tasks as well as those requiring personal patient interaction. Yet they do not work at your medical practice but from a remote location. Amongst the various tasks these professionals can carry out include patient registration, insurance verification, appointment scheduling, and even the refilling of prescriptions. But this just scratches the surface of the many tasks virtual medical assistants can take on.
When you hire a virtual assistant to take on certain tasks, you free up much of your, and your in-house staff’s, time. This leaves you and them free to continue with other tasks in your practice. Furthermore, by having someone on call to help provide patients with personalized support and as-needed communication, your healthcare practice can experience improved patient satisfaction and the benefits that arise from it.
The various administrative tasks in a healthcare environment take up a lot of time. When you leave these tasks to your professionally trained Cool Blue VA medical virtual assistant, you may soon see improved patient satisfaction. These professionals can not only handle appointment scheduling but also improve patient waiting times. This they do through follow-ups with patients to confirm their attendance and slotting in patients on your waiting list in case of cancellations. Because they can also manage your patient records, your records stay up-to-date and accurate. You no longer need to check up on current patient information during a consultation and waste your, and your patient’s, valuable time.
Personalizing contact with patients in an in-house medical practice may prove extremely difficult. The staff members tasked with any form of patient contact usually have other tasks to carry out as well. A virtual medical assistant appointed for specific tasks can greatly help with improved patient satisfaction during engagements. As a result, your patients may experience an overall more empathetic healthcare experience when dealing with your medical practice. This is because a virtual medical assistant can provide your patients with an excellent support base where they can address any concerns they may have. They can also answer certain medical queries and assist patients with various healthcare concerns.
While clear communication between healthcare professionals about patient care is crucial, communication between healthcare professionals and patients is equally important. However, as a primary healthcare provider, you may often find you do not have the time to communicate with each of your patients before or after appointments. Here, a virtual medical assistant can assist with improved patient satisfaction. They can deal with patient inquiries and facilitate messages between your patients and you, as their primary healthcare provider. In so doing, they can ensure that your patients receive any valuable information needed about their healthcare. These professionals can also widen patient access to healthcare by arranging remote consultations, for example, or answering questions your patients may have after consulting with you.
Suppose you want to seamlessly integrate a virtual medical assistant into your practice. In that case, you need to ask yourself one very important question: What do I need my virtual medical assistant to do? Once you have the answer fixed in your mind, you would need to put certain procedures in place to smooth over their transition.
We will look at a few things to consider if you want to promote improved patient satisfaction with your virtual medical assistant hire.
You need to determine your needs and what you want your virtual medical assistant to do. This means you need to determine the various responsibilities you wish them to handle, keeping in mind your practice’s priorities and your patients’ needs. Doing so allows you to create a comprehensive job description. With this down in writing, it makes it easier for your prospective hire to correctly understand your expectations of them.
Protocols vary in different industries. For example, what works in the building industry does not work in the healthcare field. Furthermore, protocols in different areas of the healthcare field may also vary. This means you need to clearly define the protocols as well as the workflow in your particular healthcare practice. Definite protocols to follow can promote better teamwork while enhancing communication, not only with patients but between your different team members as well.
Although your medical virtual assistant has already received full training in the skills they need to perform in your practice, you may still need to devise an onboarding strategy. This will help them settle into your practice’s workflow and help create good working interpersonal relationships between them and your in-house team members. Remember, although these professionals work remotely, they may still have to communicate with other team members. It will also contribute to increased patient satisfaction if all team members are on the same page.
A great way of measuring your improved patient satisfaction is by conducting patient satisfaction surveys. This does not only apply to your virtual hire(s) but to yourself and in-house staff members as well. Upon analyzing these surveys, you can then take appropriate measures to address those areas in which your practice is lacking.
There are many virtual assistant companies out there. Not all, however, focus on the healthcare industry like Cool Blue VA. Most of our virtual assistants have some form of medical background. They also receive up-to-date training for the tasks you hire them for. Furthermore, all our virtual medical assistants are HIPAA trained, ensuring your patients’ medical information always stays confidential and private.
Our medical virtual assistants all go through a rigorous screening process before we recommend them as hires. We cover all areas of healthcare needs, from appointment setting to follow-ups, invoicing, and everything in between.
For a full, comprehensive list of services we offer, why not give us a call today? Our contact number is 714-695-8000.
Allow us to help you take your healthcare practice to the next level with a virtual hire through Cool Blue VA. We will help you select the perfect virtual hire who will seamlessly slot into your healthcare practice’s workflow.
