With healthcare providers, including medical clinics and hospitals, all feeling the squeeze to implement cost-driven initiatives, many healthcare providers are seeking outsourced solutions as a way to ease financial constraints and free up resources without degrading quality care across a heavily-regulated industry.
Outsourcing has long been a common feature in healthcare, including custodial, laundry, food service, and medical supply vendors serving in support functions. But even core care functions are being outsourced with impressive results.
In fact, in a survey of medical leaders from 709 hospital and inpatient facilities, 81 percent said their satisfaction with outsourced service exceeded expectations.
Whether you’re a clinic, provider, pharmacy, manufacturer, government organization, or a major employer, outsourcing can reap cost savings, improved communications, and better patient engagement.
Here are three key areas healthcare providers can turn to for great cost reduction while maintaining quality service and patient care:
PATIENT APPOINTMENT CALL CENTERS
The effectiveness of patient care starts with quality medical scheduling. As your staff faces higher appointment volume and increasingly complex scheduling software, the challenge of giving prompt and compliant customer service grows harder.
Medical offices must guard against errors and inefficiencies that can lower patient satisfaction. A healthcare call center can save time, reduce manual tasks and lower costs in many ways:
- 24/7 answering services
- Patient appointment reminders and rescheduling
- Insurance verification
- Streamline patient assistance
Through outsourcing, clinics and hospitals can offer flexible and scalable appointment scheduling solutions for customers, which support seamless reservations, flexible rescheduling and the ability to direct resources where they are needed most.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT (ACA) OPEN ENROLLMENT CALL CENTERS
The open enrollment period is a stressful time for consumers, as many are making important healthcare insurance coverage decisions with little confidence. Plus, with a narrow window for enrollment each year, call volumes spike and bury insurance providers with urgent, last-minute enrollments.
Outsourcing your high call volume to expert agents that are versed in ACA regulations (as well as HIPAA and CMS compliance) helps customers make informed decisions and reduces risk and liability.
Call center outsourcing also lets medical providers dedicate more of their resources back into quality patient care.
Health insurance providers can earn powerful benefits via outsourcing during open enrollment periods, including:
- Scalability with licensed agents to accommodate call volume spikes
- Better customer service levels, even during your busiest times
- Fully HIPAA compliant call center operations
MEDICAL CLAIMS AND BILLING CALL CENTERS
The high cost of employing a medical claims and billings staff, from salaries to benefits to technology, far exceeds the cost of a third-party vendor. And that’s before you factor in the challenge of navigating claim denials, misplaced forms, errant billings, and quality customer service across these specialized staffers.
Clinics and hospitals looking to significantly reduce costs in the claim and billing process should consider outsourcing to professional agents, specifically trained to meet high industry standards.
With constant changes to Medicare and Medicaid, medical billing and patient claims must be operationally focused on consistency and transparency to adhere to all healthcare regulations. A call center vendor with decades of healthcare expertise can help you drive error-free processes all while reducing your total costs.
FINDING THE PERFECT HEALTHCARE CALL CENTER
Outsource Consultants has over 25 years of outsourcing industry experience and has spent thousands of hours learning the strengths and specializations of the most experienced healthcare call centers both in the US and abroad.
Our team can assist in a number of areas:
- Comprehensive screening for potential partners.
- Providing industry recommendations, pricing and terms.
- Determining call center specialization, based on capabilities, skill sets, call type expertise, and healthcare experience.
- Choosing healthcare call centers that align with small or large-scale project requirements.
Let Outsource Consultants help you find the call center that fits your requirements at NO charge!
