A recent article in the Financial Times suggested that the Government ” is proceeding at breakneck speed with plans to outsource public services.” The Welfare Reform Bill as well as the Health and Social Care Bill have opened up opportunities across the health and welfare sectors for healthcare professionals.
Whilst the Financial Times gave examples of sizeable contracts encompassing areas such as IT and work-capability assessments; there are plenty of other areas in which health care professionals can benefit from outsourcing. These include providing healthcare services such as osteopathy and physiotherapy or running wellness clinics in tandem with local GP practices.
On the other side of the coin, healthcare practices can benefit from outsourcing some of their own workload. Areas such as human resources and internet technology can take up considerable time which would be better spent in providing patient care. Telephone answering and diary management services can also be outsourced.
At Clinic Appointments, our telephone answering team are experienced in healthcare matters, enabling them to handle calls with a degree of knowledge and sympathy. Calls are answered in the business name meaning that callers are unaware that the call handling has been outsourced. Our receptionists can forward messages, answer queries and book appointments.
Moving one step on from outsourcing telephone calls the Clinic Appointments team can also manage diaries including sending reminders to clients and invoicing. This frees up time allowing healthcare and beauty practitioners to concentrate on what they do best; providing a great personal service to clients. Finally, our secure patient record software allows records to be stored digitally, helping with filing and doing away with those hours wasted searching for paper notes.
Those who enjoy the constant shuffling between patients and telephone calls, the endless filing and searching for paperwork and never quite being in control probably won’t appreciate the Clinic Appointments service. However healthcare professionals who prefer to focus their attention on patient care might find our service to their liking.
In its move towards outsourcing the Government has concluded that outsourcing allows efficiencies of expertise together with greater flexibility and cost savings. This move is in fact being reflected throughout business with outsourcing increasingly being seen as a cost effective and beneficial exercise.
The Health and Social Care Bill in particular will result in the NHS making strides towards outsourcing, thanks to the devolution of budgets to GP practices. Healthcare professionals who are poised to make the most of outsourcing could see a world of opportunity opening before them.