How Outdated Telecom Infrastructure Is Hurting Healthcare Organizations

The phone system frustrates many medical professionals, particularly those in younger cohorts. It’s outdated, overly technical and not user-friendly. Some might say that a physical phone is about as useful as a paperweight. Merely a “hello” and “goodbye” tool. This sentiment is not unfounded, as the phone systems of today haven’t changed significantly since their initial invention. Office nurses and receptionists, for example, must act as a human router, putting callers on hold as they activate the second line. It’s time phone systems got an upgrade—specifically in telephony integration.

What are the consequences of using outdated phone infrastructure?

There are many issues with modern phone systems, from poor customer support to high cost of entry. However, the lack of proper integration between phone systems and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms severely affects clinics, dentists and any office that relies heavily on recurrent phone contact with patients. When a patient calls to schedule an appointment, the receptionist must open the CRM to search for information and input data manually. This method is inefficient, consuming an unnecessary amount of that worker’s already busy day.

This lack of integration will also degrade the patient experience. How often does a patient call to make an appointment and then wait for several minutes as the receptionist manually searches through files on the CRM to find or input relevant information? Awkward pauses and the occasional “sorry, our system is really slow today” characterizes the archetypical call. It could be the poor receptionist’s first day on the job, but the patient can’t believe their doctor’s office of ten years is making them repeat the same basic information.

In addition to manual data entry and poor patient experience, healthcare practices can expect to encounter a lack of comprehensive call history, making it difficult to track the status of their various patients and where they are at in the patient journey (onboarding, recurring, dormant, etc.). Moreover, as receptionists switch between systems to scour for patient information, there is a higher possibility of data inconsistencies and errors.

The benefits of fully integrated business phone services

Healthcare practices can update their outdated phone infrastructure by working with a partner to help integrate their phone systems with their CRMs. Every time a patient calls the front office, a best-in-class solution will immediately recognize the caller’s number. It will then automatically populate the receptionist’s screen with that patient’s information, including pertinent insights, such as call history, how long they’ve been a patient, if they are due for a checkup, etc.

By giving the receptionists all the relevant information to assist the patient, they can answer the phone like this: “Hey Pam, are you calling to set up that appointment for your son? How is next Tuesday at noon?” Rather than this: “Hi, may I ask who I am speaking with?” For the patient, the call is painless and is less than a couple of minutes. Plus, the office knows exactly who they are, helping foster a greater sense of trust and loyalty. Ultimately, these happy patients will recommend their friends, family and coworkers.

A successful integration can also result in a significant increase in productivity. Consider a busy dentist’s office that typically asks three questions for every inbound call to find the caller in their system. This process adds several minutes to the call duration and let’s face it; time is money! Those extra minutes can quickly add up, meaning fewer total calls the receptionists can handle daily. With an integration that allows the front desk workers to access necessary data, the office cuts down the average call duration, resulting in more overall calls in a day, which translates to more business in a year.

Making the phone more than a paperweight

Even when phone systems lack integration with CRMs and other platforms, they remain a vital lifeline between the healthcare practice and its patients. When upgraded, the phone becomes more than a paperweight on the side of a desk but an invaluable tool that boosts worker productivity and enhances the patient experience.