Answering Patient’s Phone Calls

Answering phone calls is an everyday job a medical office setting has to deal with. Answer machines are available in most offices to better serve the patient, and return their calls in case the assistants are helping other callers or patients at the office. When handling a phone call, one of the things we need to keep in mind is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Confidentiality is very important and some information cannot be discussed over the phone.

The assistants handle patient's scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellation over the phone. They need to get the proper information (name of the patient, date of birth and telephone number) to be retrieved from the system; any changes needs to be updated in the system accurately. Furthermore when a patient is ill and calls the office to request to be seeing by the doctor, the assistant takes information from the patient, and have a triage nurse return patient’s call.

Referrals are important and specific information is necessary. Most office has an answering machine where they asked the patient to provide their personal information along with the doctor’s referrals information. Patient needs to call a couple days prior the appointment date, and make the request. If any other information is needed, an assistant will call the patient on behalf of their referral request to gather more information.