4 Myths About Flat Rate Medical Answering Services
Healthcare answering services have largely facilitated the physicians and medical centers to improve patient care even during the after-hours and vacations. Pricing is the main determinant to choose any service provider. Most of the medical facilities prefer going for flat-rate pricing because it helps to set aside a monthly budget for answering services without compromising on quality of service. Another popular pricing method is usage-based where you are charged for every call and extra service provided. However, there are many myths associated with flat-rate pricing that must be debunked to explain its advantages for businesses where monthly budget planning is extremely important.
Myth 1: Flat Rate Pricing Includes Many Hidden Costs:
Here, it is important to know what exactly constitute the hidden costs. These are the costs like taxes, levies, extra charges for handling calls during holidays, etc. Mostly, they are added up to the monthly invoice without the notice of customer. People are made to think that due to their low costs, fixed pricing methods have many such costs that are divulged only after second month’s billing. On the contrary, most of the flat-rate answering services do not have any such hidden costs.
Myth 2: Quality Services Cannot Be Provided With Flat Rate Pricing:
Since flat rate pricing is mostly on the lower side, people assume that their service quality can’t be at par. However, this is completely untrue. Companies offering fixed rate pricing can also provide a wide range of services including HIPAA compliance, voicemail transcription, bilingual answering, trained medical professionals, web controls, disaster recovery, customizable services, and lots more. Reliable flat rate service providers can offer you additional benefits like call escalation according to urgency and rescheduling of non-urgent calls.
Myth 3: Flat Rate Pricing Includes Extra Per Minute Charges:
This might be a practice adopted by some service providers but it does not uniformly apply to all the companies. There are some reputed providers offering flat-rate services without ant charges for extra incoming calls. So, despite the number of calls, your budget will not be disturbed by these unwarranted extra costs added up to every invoice.
Myth 4: Flat Rate Service Providers Do Not Have Well-Trained Staff of Call Attendants:
This is completely a myth. Mostly, flat rate answering services work with an automated system which makes them competitive in pricing. Staff training is important in this industry to understand the urgency of every situation and escalate the calls accordingly. Hence, you can find some companies offering these servicers with a strict adherence to HIPAA regulations and specified trainings for their staff comprising of medical professionals.
These myths might be true for some companies following unethical practices of providing misinformation to their customers with regard to their services and pricing. But, a reputed company with years of experience and technical knowledge of this industry can easily manage to offer flawless flat-rate answering services to its clients with a commitment to best services and customized solutions to fit varied demands of healthcare industry.