Does your hospital, clinic, or group provide telephone triage service? With the rapid changes in healthcare, extending care to the telephone is the next logical step. But just because it makes sense, doesn’t mean you need to do it. Maybe you need to outsource this, especially if it’s not your core competency.
Or maybe you already provide medical advice lines but struggle to meet the demand or keep your operation fully staffed. Perhaps it’s time to consider some tactical outsourcing. Outsource healthcare call centers are staffed by registered nurses and can take this load off you.
Here are four ways an outsource telephone triage service can help:
Outsource Slow Times: Many telephone triage operations receive most of their calls after business hours. During the day, when doctors’ offices are open, their staff sits around with not much to do. They are bored and not cost-effective. Outsource these slow shifts to save a bundle while still maintaining service 24×7. Regardless of when your slow times occur, look to outsourcing.
Outsource Underutilized Days: Look at your daily traffic. One telephone triage operation gets slammed each weekend. Their Fridays and Mondays are busy, too. But midweek, things slow down. They decided to outsource their calls on Tuesday through Thursday. They saved three FTEs and only incurred a faction of the cost, while maintaining the same level of service to callers.
Outsource Peaks: The opposite issue is when calls come in faster than your staff can handle. Perhaps you have three seats and can staff them, but there are times you need more. Don’t expand, outsource the extra calls your staff can’t get to.
Outsource Everything: Maybe the smart thing to do is to outsource everything. When you add up the costs for labor, management, appointment setting staff, equipment, software, support, infrastructure, rent, liability insurance, and so on, it might be more cost-effective to outsource the entire operation.
What if you aren’t sure if outsourcing your telephone triage is the right move for your organization? You will never know until you check. And if you end up saving money and serving patients better, you will be the hero to upper management.
