Patients select medical facilities based not only on doctors’ professionalism and services offered but also on the quality of service. Hence, many healthcare providers are establishing in-house contact centers or outsourcing to manage customer service. For larger institutions, handling client communications may require a dedicated department. Outsourcing to a partner call center often proves the most cost-effective solution.
What is call center outsourcing? Why is it increasingly common in healthcare? What advantages does it offer? Find answers to these questions and more in our article.
What is call center outsourcing?
An outsourcing call center is a company specialized in handling inbound and outbound calls, as well as other forms of communication, to address customer inquiries and provide information support. Therefore, call center outsourcing involves transferring call center functions to an external company specializing in such services. This means that a company, institution, or organization does not handle the organization, technical and software provision, or employ its own call center operators. Instead, it enters into a contract with an outsourcing company, which, using its infrastructure and human resources, processes customer requests and maintains comprehensive communication with them.
Why do healthcare organizations turn to outsourcing call centers?
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, outsourcing call centers, like general business process outsourcing (BPO), aim to cut costs by reducing expenses such as personnel, rent, equipment, and software. This often results in lower costs compared to maintaining an internal call center.
Secondly, it’s about customer service. In a competitive medical services market, institutions must uphold a high standard. This includes promptly responding to calls, handling inquiries through various channels, scheduling appointments, and providing reminders. When individuals seek help for health issues, the professionalism and empathy of call center operators are crucial.
Advantages of outsourcing call centers for healthcare organizations
Through a call center, medical institutions can significantly improve their communication with clients, enhance service quality, and optimize internal processes. Outsourcing call centers for clinics, dental offices, laboratories, and any other medical facilities offer several benefits that help stand out among competitors, attract more new clients, and retain existing ones. Let’s take a closer look at the advantages of outsourcing contact centers for medical institutions.
Structuring customer work with CRM
Outsourcing companies typically have modern call center software, including customer relationship management (CRM) systems. In the case where a healthcare organizations or medical laboratories already has its own CRM, modern outsourcing service providers can integrate it with IP telephony for the call center and software and provide CRM outsourcing & management services, ensuring comprehensive patient support:
- Completing electronic medical records
- Creating databases
- Automating communication (reminders, appointment scheduling, etc.)
- Creating physician schedules
- Analyzing requests and services
- Managing documents (certificates, prescriptions, sick leave, etc.)
Connecting and managing a CRM database in the contact center streamlines patient processes, boosts primary and repeat requests, reduces refusals and appointment cancellations, drives revenue growth, and enhances satisfaction among clients and medical staff.
Handling calls and messages 24/7
Most Healthcare and Medical institutions operate on specific schedules. Therefore, clients need to call during working hours to schedule appointments or certain procedures. Outsourced call center services allow setting agents’ work schedules so that clients can reach them during both working hours and weekends, at any time of the day. Call center agents swiftly and comprehensively answer clients’ questions, provide information about specific medical procedures, and offer appointment scheduling.
Multichannel communication
In today’s world, booking doctor appointments, requesting lab tests, or seeking information via a medical center’s website or social media page is a common form of remote customer service. Modern outsourcing call centers can handle various communication channels seamlessly, including online chat, contact center email management and mobile messaging. This omnichannel approach prioritizes customer care and boosts retention rates, ensuring clients can reach out through their preferred channels without the need to switch to another medical institution.
Automation of routine tasks
Medical and healthcare organizations (clinics, dental offices, laboratories) often contract call center services in the form of a virtual office, receptionist, or secretary. This setup helps address numerous common inquiries such as pharmacy or clinic hours, procedure availability, service costs, or doctor appointments at specific times. The capabilities of outsourcing organizations allow for the call center automation of routine tasks through self-service systems.
Programming an interactive voice response (IVR) menu for the medical facility’s hotline enables the automatic processing of incoming requests and informs clients about new services, special offers, lab test statuses, addresses, and operating hours of the medical center’s departments, as well as providing informational assistance, all without the involvement of call center agents.
Maintaining patient feedback
Arguably, one of the most significant benefits of outsourcing call centers for medical institutions is maintaining communication with patients. Patients anticipate receiving test results, examination findings, and updates on specialist appointments or prescription availability. For them, receiving timely information is crucial. The call center’s responsibility is to sustain feedback and promptly provide patients with the information they need. Outsourcing a call center for a medical facility offers an avenue to streamline this communication. Utilizing tools like power dialer minimizes the likelihood of scenarios where patients cannot be reached.
Furthermore, beyond information dissemination, feedback plays another vital role: assessing satisfaction with the medical center’s services (NPS), particularly the quality of service after visiting a specific specialist. Outsourced call center agents or automated IVR systems gather and organize client feedback immediately post-service, while details are fresh in memory. Consequently, the medical institution gains invaluable insights necessary for service enhancement.
Hotline and emergency assistance
Medical & Healthcare Call Center outsourcing make it possible to set up “hotlines” and emergency assistance lines. With virtual 0800 numbers, patients can call toll-free to receive expert advice or request urgent assistance from a specialist.
Statistics show that implementing an 0800 number for a medical facility leads to an increase in incoming calls, resulting in more potential clients showing interest. Clients don’t have to worry about call costs from different regions or operators—all calls to the 8-800 number are free for them.
During advertising campaigns, an outsourced call center serving as a hotline proves invaluable. With a specialized load distribution system for agents and multi-channel lines, every call is answered, ensuring that all potential clients receive the necessary support and information.
Healthcare and Medical call center outsourcing from Global Bilgi
Impeccable customer service is crucial for medical companies, and Global Bilgi knows how to deliver it. We have created a reliable call center outsourcing system that provides comprehensive solutions for clinics, hospitals, dental offices, laboratories, and other medical facilities:
- Initial consultation about services with pre-agreed scripts;
- Providing information on rates, special offers, and promotions;
- Organizing appointments with specialized professionals, scheduling laboratory tests, and medical procedures;
- Providing information on the status of laboratory tests;
- Timely reminders of scheduled appointments, the need for check-ups, follow-up visits, and comprehensive examinations;
- Conducting surveys, including personalized and automated ones, to assess satisfaction with the quality of services and the performance of specific professionals;
- 24/7 telephone support via the hotline.
Our call center solutions include well-established processes for hiring, training, planning, monitoring, and reporting combined with reliable digital contact center infrastructure. Global Bilgi’s call center outsourcing services will ensure the best performance for your healthcare company with high cost-effectiveness! To find out the cost of call center services for medical institutions, click on the “CONTACT US” button at the top of the blog.
Medical & Healthcare call center outsourcing: conclusions
Outsourcing a call center is not just about transferring functions; it’s also an opportunity to gain access to new technologies, knowledge, and experience that can help medical institutions improve patient service. Simultaneously, outsourcing the contact center allows for cost reduction and enables organizations to focus on their core activities.
By choosing call center outsourcing, companies providing medical services can significantly reduce payroll, infrastructure, and call center administration costs. Additionally, an outsourced call center optimizes the time of medical staff for providing medical care, reduces stress levels, and improves morale among healthcare facility employees.
Global Bilgi offers high-quality call center outsourcing services and digital solutions for leading medical companies. We ensure the best customer experience and service quality in line with the highest global standards. If you need an experienced provider of business process outsourcing services, we will find the right call center outsourcing solution and reliable digital Customer Experience (CX) products for you!