GP surgeries require friendly, prompt, and efficient service. Patients are often calling with concerns, and they will expect a quick response to their call, therefore the telephony solution that is chosen must accommodate these requirements.
The Challenge
GP surgeries often deal with a large number of calls, particularly during peak times such as Monday mornings. In these cases, call queueing is a must to ensure all calls are dealt with promptly and efficiently.
To ensure staff resource is allocated correctly, reporting is needed to monitor the number of calls coming through during busy time periods. This will enable the surgery to work as efficiently as possible.
Certain calls within a surgery could require urgent attention, the telephony system selected will need to ensure that it prioritises calls and that patients are not left waiting for long periods of time, particularly in an emergency situation.
Consultations over the phone are a good way for patients to communicate with their nurse or doctor, however, call recording will probably need to be considered so that key information can be easily accessed whenever the need arises.
Surgeries need to access these extra features in case an issue occurs, a disaster recovery plan is vital so that it doesn’t impact patients’ care.
GP surgeries can benefit from a reliable, and feature-rich telephony system with Cloud.
The Solution
Auto attendant – greets the caller, for example with a message saying that their call will be answered and ensures they are not left listening to a ringtone. It helps cut down the amount of time patients spend waiting in queues, as patients’ enquiries for opening hours and other information can be answered.
Call queueing – allows patient calls to be queued at the network level before they are delivered to a handset at the practice. Comfort messages can be played too, which will reassure patients that their call will be answered soon and provide information such as opening hours.
Call recording – used to train and coach new receptionists, nurses, and practice managers. Plus, the doctor or the nurse can have the ability to retrospectively record the entire call, should they feel the need.
Sophisticated statistical analysis – of inbound/ outbound calls can help identify the busiest periods to help plan for staff scheduling.
Integration with industry-specific CRMs – can keep a record of call history and interactions with patients, as well as screen-pops on inbound calls to create a sense of customer service and care when answering calls.
PC soft client – presence and chat can be used to communicate amongst the team to help meet patient confidentiality.
Receptionist console – helps reduce the time it takes for a call to come in and be transferred to the necessary department or individual. The ability to re-order the queue is important, as some calls may need to be dealt with quicker than others in case of emergency. ‘Presence’ allows the receptionist to check who is available before transferring the call.
A disaster recovery plan – such as failing over to another number (mobile, other practice) ensures no calls are missed.
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