How Virtual Assistants Can Make Doctor's Offices More Efficient
Medical providers work a lot of hours. While most would love to dedicate most of these hours to their patients, much of this time is spent on paperwork, phone calls, and dealing with insurance companies.
The administrative burden is especially large for small healthcare providers. Many of these smaller offices can't afford full-time staff, and many larger operations want to reduce the overhead expenses that come with in-house employees.
In many industries, virtual assistants step in to relieve business owners of these burdens. But, are virtual assistants a viable option for healthcare providers?
That’s the question we’re going to explore today, and the answer may surprise you.
Virtual assistants and HIPAA
First things first, let’s talk about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Healthcare professionals need to maintain HIPAA compliance, and it’s not uncommon for them to believe that only in-house staff can be trusted to adhere to this requirement.
This is actually not the case. Many virtual assistant providers, including Intelligent Office, make sure their virtual assistants are constantly trained on the latest HIPAA requirements.
To learn more about finding a virtual assistant or virtual receptionist that can work within the parameters of HIPAA, don’t miss this helpful blog: How to Choose the Right HIPAA Compliant Phone Answering Service.
Understanding what a virtual assistant can do for medical providers
Now that you know that using a virtual assistant is a viable option from a compliance standpoint, you're going to want to know what type of work can be outsourced.
For the most part, virtual assistants can service the same type of tasks that in-house staff can perform. This includes:
- Scheduling and confirming appointments
- Providing appointment reminders
- Following up with patients
- Gathering insurance information
- Updating patient files and other data entry duties
- Ordering needed supplies
- Doing any other duties as required, including accounting and payroll
Virtual assistants can also act as receptionists, answering any calls that come through and responding to high-level questions from clients. When a client has a more in-depth question, the virtual assistant can take messages for the medical provider.
A look at the major benefits of using virtual assistants in your healthcare practice
Virtual assistants offer a number of benefits over in-house employees.
In-house staff require a desk, chair, other office equipment, and benefits. Virtual assistants have all of their own equipment and their own office space. Because a virtual assistant is an employee of a business services agency, the agency takes care of their benefits.
Virtual office companies have a pool of qualified, knowledgeable virtual assistants that are always on hand to provide services to healthcare providers. This means that no call goes unanswered, no matter how busy your office might be.
Virtual assistants make it easier to focus on your patients
When day-to-day administrative tasks are handled, it’s much easier to provide the best care possible.
This is the biggest benefit that a virtual assistant can offer your healthcare practice. With extra administrative support, providers are finally free to focus on patient care.
Whether you have limited resources to hire additional staff, want to streamline your healthcare business, or both, there are a variety of virtual office solutions for medical businesses. You can learn more about the possibilities here.
