Plastic surgery is known for its precision, artistry, and profound impact on patients’ lives. However, beyond the surgical suite, managing the day-to-day operations of a plastic surgery practice can be demanding, especially when it comes to handling patient inquiries and appointment scheduling.
Recognizing the signs that your practice should consider outsourcing calls can be a pivotal step toward enhancing efficiency and delivering exceptional patient care.
In this blog, we’ll:
- Uncover signs your practice should embrace outsourcing
- Explore how outsourcing can benefit your revenue
- Examine common problems in the patient experience
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Overwhelmed Staff and Missed Calls
One of the most apparent signs that your practice may benefit from outsourcing calls is when your in-house staff becomes overwhelmed with call volume. When calls go unanswered or are put on hold for extended periods, it can lead to frustrated patients and missed opportunities.
- On average, callers will only wait 90 seconds until they hang up (TalkDesk).
- 34% of callers who hang up won’t call back, ever (TalkDesk).
If your staff is struggling to manage the influx of calls effectively, it’s time to consider outsourcing to a specialized agency with the capacity to handle high call volumes efficiently.
Sign: Numerous missed calls or prolonged wait times for patients seeking information or appointments.
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Declining Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction is at the core of any successful medical practice or surgical center. If you’ve been receiving complaints about long hold times, difficulty reaching your office, poor customer care, or unresponsive staff, it’s a clear indicator that your call management system needs improvement. Unfavorable online reviews from admin woes will often turn away prospective patients – even when they don’t reflect your prowess in cosmetic surgery.
- 90% of patients use online reviews to evaluate physicians (HealthGrades).
- 80% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations (HealthGrades).
- 77% of patients use online reviews as their first step in finding a new doctor (HealthGrades).
Outsourcing calls to an expert team knowledgeable of the plastic surgery business enhances the patient experience by providing efficient, courteous, and prompt responses to inquiries.
Sign: An increasing number of patient complaints or negative online reviews related to call handling.
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Inefficient Appointment Scheduling
Effective appointment scheduling is crucial for patient convenience and practice productivity. If your staff is struggling to manage appointments, leading to double bookings, scheduling errors, or a lack of flexibility to accommodate patient preferences, it’s a sign that your practice could benefit from the expertise of outsourced call handlers.
Ensuring a smooth booking process creates a positive patient journey and sets the tone for a loyal, long-term relationship where you can continue to offer services to patients returning in the future and remain competitive amongst other cosmetic surgeons.
- No-shows cost practices $6000 a month (Curogram).
- Nearly 80% of patients said that the ability to book, change, or cancel appointments online is important (Accenture).
Outsourcing your contact center can streamline the scheduling process and ensure that appointments are managed with precision.
Sign: Frequent scheduling conflicts or frustrated patients due to appointment-related issues.
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Limited Resources for Core Activities
As a plastic surgeon, your primary focus should be on patient care, consultations, and surgical procedures. If you find that you or your staff are spending a significant amount of time on administrative tasks like answering phones, it can detract from the core activities that drive the success of your practice.
Plastic surgery medical practices that have existing patient care coordinators and front desk staff call leads often suffer from untimely responses, missed potential patients, and lower-quality care in the office.
- The average plastic surgeon spends about 12 hours a week on administrative tasks, including phone calls and scheduling (Medscape).
Looking to a third-party contact center allows you to redirect valuable resources toward your expertise while leaving call management to specialists.
Sign: Decreased availability for patient consultations at your plastic surgery clinic or insufficient time for professional development.
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Fluctuating Call Volume
The demand for plastic surgery services can fluctuate due to various factors, including marketing campaigns, seasonal variations, or special promotions. Maintaining a consistent in-house call center capable of handling peak call volumes can be costly and inefficient. Outsourcing offers scalability, allowing you to flexibly scale up or down based on call volume, ensuring you’re always equipped to manage inquiries effectively.
- The odds of converting a lead into a customer are 21 times greater when contacted within five minutes compared to waiting for 30 minutes (InsideSales).
- Delegating calls to a third party gives access to a talent pool when demand is high without the need for training or consumption of resources.
When looking to expand your practice by reaching more potential customers or targeting past patents with new services, a static call center can become a bottleneck and limit you from fully realizing your revenue potential and overall growth.
Sign: Inconsistent call volumes that strain your in-house resources during busy periods and underutilize them during quieter times.
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Cost Inefficiencies
Running an in-house call center comes with substantial overhead costs, including staff salaries, benefits, equipment, and maintenance. If you’re concerned about the cost-efficiency of your call management system and believe that reallocating those resources could benefit your practice, outsourcing calls can be a cost-effective solution. You pay for the services you use, without the added expense of maintaining an in-house team.
- 70% of organizations outsource to achieve cost reduction (Deloitte).
Sign: Increasing concerns about the rising cost of managing an in-house call center, impacting your practice’s financial sustainability.
Are Any of These Signs Familiar?
Recognizing these signs in your plastic surgery practice can serve as a proactive step toward optimizing your operations and enhancing the patient experience. These signs, backed by compelling statistics, emphasize the importance of efficient call handling and how outsourcing calls to a specialized agency can provide the professionalism, scalability, and cost-efficiency necessary to navigate growth successfully.
By doing so, you can focus on what truly matters: delivering exceptional patient care and achieving aesthetic excellence.
Ready to streamline your patient experience and realize your full revenue potential? Contact SalesMD today to get started!
