Our practice transformation did not happen overnight. Rather, it has been a very slow and progressive process that has completely changed the core of our organization. Beginning to use virtual medical services ourselves optimized productivity, efficiency, and costs.
It all started about five years ago. At that time, our primary care practice was going through a strong period of growth that required adapting our staff and protocols to newer dynamics.
Then we started to hear patients who were complaining of having been on hold on the phone for 20 minutes or longer. Like the vast majority of medical centers, our front desk employees were overwhelmed with phone calls and could not attend to the incoming patients in a courteous and effective matter. Our medical assistants were in an almost constant state of disarray, retrieving voicemail messages and taking care of prescriptions and results delivery between patient visits. That was a defining moment for us and for the staff: we could not succumb to a customer service level that was not acceptable for our patients. Then we decided to open a centralized call and support center in order to field all the inbound and outbound calls from our three different offices.
The move definitely improved the efficiencies of the practice and created a much more welcoming and professional atmosphere in all the offices. Unfortunately, despite the redistribution of the staff and the utilization of dedicated call center employees, time on-hold was still not acceptable and the overall costs for the practice were becoming truly unsustainable.
Finally, we decided to outsource professional Virtual Medical Assistants for the practice. Our international call and support center started with only a couple of employees. After a few weeks, we were able to hire more overseas staff and more virtual medical assistants and we closed our centralized call center. Soon enough we realized that, with the proper training and supervision, the outsourced staff could take over, perform and optimize a vast number of tasks, from the very basic to the most complex, in a much more efficient and cost-effective way.
Since then, our virtual medical assistants have grown to over 20 employees who handle inbound calls, outbound calls, patient check-ins, reminders, pre-visit planning, insurance verification, prior authorizations, lab transcription, schedule optimization, billing, collections, and many other tasks. Furthermore, our overhead costs have been slashed by almost 70%, our productivity has grown tremendously year over year, and our providers and staff are now able to enjoy a much better work-life balance.
We at Ideal Tech Staffing, offer a cost effective and worry-free solutions at these challenges. So, doctors can manage their practices profitably and can focus on their patients as a first priority.
Dr. Fausto Petruzziello
CEO/Medical Director