Businesses in every industry benefit from partnerships with virtual assistants — contracted service providers who assist with administrative and other business tasks. The medical industry is no exception.
With significant changes in how practices perform over the past couple of years, there’s no better time to look into hiring a virtual medical assistant. Here are some of the main benefits of working with a virtual medical assistant to make your practice more profitable without sacrificing the patient experience.
Reduces Staffing Costs
The primary benefit of working with virtual medical assistants is the reduced staffing costs. Since you’re hiring a contractor rather than an employee, your liability and responsibilities are limited. As such, you won’t have to worry about insurance coverage, Workers’ Compensation, benefits, or employment taxes.
Contractors tend to have shorter hiring and onboarding timelines as well, as the nuances of hiring an employee aren’t there to create barriers. If your virtual medical assistant no longer wishes to work for you, it’s easier to network and find someone to step into the role without repeating the entire hiring process.
Finally, many virtual assistants are located around the world and take on several clients to reach their desired income. This factor creates an opportunity to offer a rate that fits their country’s wage standards — which often results in cost savings for you.
Increases Ability To Delegate Tasks
Virtual medical assistants often have skills in various roles and relevant tasks. Rather than hiring a receptionist and medical transcriptionist, you can usually find a virtual medical assistant who can handle both. This opportunity allows you to delegate more tasks with ease while dealing with one individual.
Your virtual assistant may also have variable working hours that allow them to handle a backlog of administrative tasks in the off hours of your busy practice. As such, you can rest easy knowing things are getting done, even after hours.
Scaleable for Your Needs
Another significant benefit of working with a virtual assistant in any industry is scaleability. You may only need assistance for a couple of hours a week right now while your practice is getting established, but you may require more help as you become busier and more successful.
Virtual medical assistants can cater to your needs, growing with you while handling the tasks that would otherwise distract you from focusing on growth. Find a virtual assistant who can flex their hours to suit your needs.
Fits With Virtual Medical Trends
It’s hard to believe that a mere five years ago, telemedicine was a futuristic concept. The global pandemic changed that overnight. In April 2020, patients utilized telehealth services 78 times more than in February 2020. While this trend has stabilized since, telemedicine use leveled out at 38 times more in February 2021 than pre-pandemic statistics.
The key takeaway is that medical practices are expected to have a virtual component. As virtual medical assistants can work from anywhere, this outsourcing strategy aligns with modern and future medical business trends. In fact, virtual assistants are well versed in using online systems and communication to conduct business, making them a valuable asset as you navigate this learning curve.
Access to Specialized Training
Finally, virtual medical assistants have specialized training that sets them apart from the typical virtual assistant or those that would apply to work in-person at your office. You can find skilled virtual medical assistants who have a background in healthcare and see an opportunity to build a profitable career using their skills and knowledge in a business setting.
If you own a medical practice and need qualified help with reception, administration, accounting, and marketing work, a virtual medical assistant is the best option. Consider the reasons above, calculate the costs and benefits, and you’ll see why hiring virtual medical assistants is the future of medical practices.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
