Book your free demo today! Call us on 0800 0789333 or book online

Tag: healthcare news

Telephone back up

The Suffolk coroner, Peter Dean, is writing to the NHS Norfolk and Waveney primary care trust to emphasise the importance of having a telephone back-up system in place. The correspondence arose following an inquest over the death of a patient whose family had difficulty contacting their local GP due to a telephone line failure.

Whilst the lack of phone contact was not deemed to have contributed to the patient’s death, the coroner did highlight the importance of proper plans being in place to cover telephone outages.  In this particular instance apparently the phone lines were out of action for over 24 hours with calls being diverted to a single mobile.

The coroner’s observations on the importance of telephone answering could equally be applied to any health practitioner.  Calls to make appointments, to query symptoms or to ask for advice are all vitally important to current and prospective patients and if they are unanswered then either the patient’s problem can escalate or they may simply go elsewhere.  For example patients may choose to visit A&E if the GP is unavailable or may go to another chiropractor if their first choice doesn’t answer the phone.

So the problem of maintaining an open telephone line is not just confined to times when phone systems develop a fault.  But for many health practitioners this poses a dilemma with the choice being between interrupting a patient consultation and not answering the phone call.  The answer is to use the services of a virtual receptionist.

Virtual receptionist services can answer calls, make appointments and even screen unwanted sales calls.  Available on a full time or as needed basis the virtual receptionist service means that calls need never go unanswered again.  With added extras such as diary management, appointment reminders and patient records management the virtual receptionist helps to maximise patient treatment time without compromising service standards.

Because virtual receptionists work via the internet, even if the health practitioner’s own telephone line goes down the receptionist can take over, receiving calls and making appointments which the practitioner can view on line.

Following the phone failure incident last year the health centre concerned has upgraded its phone services with a view to avoiding repeat problems.  But the story is a lesson for all those who provide health services on the importance of ensuring a back-up plan is in place before it is too late.

Fit for the future?

The 2012 Hospital guide from Dr Foster makes very interesting reading.  The headline statistics about hospital occupancy rates alone paints a picture of an NHS which is full to bursting.  Against an ideal occupancy rate of 85%, the report shows that for 48 weeks a year most hospital trusts have a bed occupancy rate in excess of 90%.

This not only puts pressure on trust staff on a day to day basis, high occupancy levels mean that when a crisis hits there is little spare capacity to meet it.  So, the current Norovirus outbreak which according to the HPA is already 72% up on last year is bad news indeed.

Unfortunately for NHS managers the Dr Foster report highlights one major bed blocker that could easily be avoided.  Apparently 29% of beds are taken up by “patients whose admission might have been avoided if their care was better managed.”  This includes patients who are readmitted shortly after discharge, patients who would have been better treated in the community and patients who could have been seen as day cases.

The report does conclude that efficient hospitals can deliver good quality care but that areas such as missed hospital appointments, unnecessary admissions,  a lack of weekend care and keeping patients in too long (or conversely discharging them too soon) all need addressing.  The report also highlights the number of follow up appointments which could easily have been replaced by a quick phone call or visit to a GP.

When looking at outpatient appointments the report also says that “both primary and secondary care providers can take measures to improve the proportion of patients who attend hospital outpatient appointments.”  We have previously highlighted ways in which some providers are taking steps to address this issue, using simple methods such as sending appointment reminders by phone or text.

Patients failing to show up for appointments is an issue for everyone working in the healthcare field.  For health practitioners who charge their patients direct, a no-show not only prevents another patient from being treated, it also costs the practitioner in lost revenue.  That is one reason why an appointment reminder service can pay for itself in reducing no-shows and keeping treatment rates high.  Allied to a virtual receptionist service which can take calls, make appointments and even manage patient records, a health practitioner can concentrate on treating the maximum number of patients and providing good quality care.

How do your patients view you?

Research by The London School of Economics in conjunction with other London Universities has revealed some interesting statistics in respect of doctor-rating websites.  Whilst the researchers only interviewed a relatively small number of people within the London area, the results revealed that only 15% of those interviewed were aware that web sites existed on which they could rate the performance of their local health provider.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who used doctor-rating sites either had a good relationship with their GP or felt that their GP did not provide clear explanations.  The young were also more likely to make use of sites which enabled them to rate their local health professionals.

Whilst the research was aimed at NHS feedback sites it does have implications for all health professionals.  The researchers concluded that although “online rating websites can play a major role in supporting patients’ informed decisions on which healthcare providers to seek advice from” there is a danger of bias as those who provide feedback on doctor-ranking websites “are unlikely to be representative of the overall patients’ pool.

Of course it is not just official rating websites which can affect how health professionals are viewed by their patients and prospective patients.  In this social media age reputations can be made and broken in an instant with comments on chat forums, social media sites and even e-mail.  Every business therefore needs to be aware of and keep on top of their online reputation.

But there are also a few steps which healthcare practices can take to avoid receiving negative comments online.  Patients are only moved to complain if they receive poor service and therefore taking steps to improve service levels will help to create a positive image.  Perception starts with first contact and there is nothing more frustrating for someone who is in pain than to be faced with a never-answered telephone.

Making use of the Clinic Appointments virtual receptionist service means that a healthcare professional need never force their clients to make multiple unanswered phone calls again.  Trained call handlers will answer that first contact telephone call in a professional and friendly manner, helping to create that good first impression which can make all the difference.  And with diary management, appointment reminder and record storage services available as part of the package, Clinic Appointments can help to free up healthcare professionals’ time; enabling them to concentrate on providing a high standard of care to their patients and hopefully leading to good feedback on any health-review website.

Contact us today to discover how Clinic Appointments can help your clinic. Book your free demo call now to learn more.