What Happens When Your Medical Practice Misses After-Hours Calls? (And How to Fix It)

The Reality of After-Hours Medical Communication

There was a time when a patient called their physician between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. But that was before the world went online. Today, there is a proliferation of telemedicine services, patient portals, and virtual solutions, enabling practices to provide extended care and communications. And so, the expectations have changed.

A study found that on-call orthopedic residents received over eight after-hours phone calls from patients per shift. Another study of an internal medicine practice found that 30% of calls came in outside of regular business hours.

It’s clear that we live in a world where 24/7 accessibility is expected, whether for financial services, customer support, or primary care. The answer to this increasing demand? An after-hours medical answering service.

The Scope of the Problem: How Common Are Missed Calls in Medical Practices?

One study on missed calls in medical practices involved 22 practices in 18 states. Out of 7,000 calls received, 42% were missed. That amounts to almost 3,000 calls.

So, what do these callers do? Keep trying until they can reach a person, or decide it’s not worth the effort? If they have an urgent concern regarding their health, chances are they’ll reach out to another provider, many of whom use an after-hours medical answering service.

What Happens When Patients Can’t Reach Your Practice?

One headline said it all: “The Death of Voicemail: Why More People are Hanging Up.” Consider what happens when you place a call and receive an automated greeting. Do you wait for it to end and then leave a message, or do you simply hang up? In our fast-paced, on-demand environment, more people are choosing the latter.

What happens, then, when patients can’t reach you?

Patient Safety Risks

While some patients are looking to set up an appointment or get their prescription refilled, others are calling with urgent concerns. When those urgent calls go unanswered, it puts patients’ health at risk, potentially leading to serious adverse health consequences.

Patient Dissatisfaction

When a patient calls because they’re not feeling quite right and it has them concerned, how do they feel when their call goes to voicemail? In most cases, it results in disappointment, concern, and some worry.

When it happens more than once, they realize their inability to access their medical provider when they feel they need them the most. A study in the American Journal of Managed Care showed that longer telephone wait times were associated with patients’ feeling they couldn’t access timely care.

Revenue Loss

While online scheduling is gaining popularity, phone calls remain the most common way Americans schedule doctors’ appointments. A survey conducted in 2024 found that 72% of respondents scheduled their medical appointments through phone calls.

When they call to set up an appointment and receive a recorded message, will they call back or wait for someone to return their phone call? And, in the rush of a busy morning, how long does it take your staff to return those after-hours phone calls received the previous night?

The truth is, when you determine the lifetime value of a medical patient, the revenue loss from missed appointments and new-patient opportunities can be staggering. It becomes essential to reduce missed patient calls.

Reputation Damage

Patients expect consistent communication from their healthcare provider. When that erodes, so does their trust. Eventually, their loyalty goes by the wayside, as well. If the lack of communication persists, frustration often leads patients to seek alternative medical practices. If that frustration turns to anger, it may also result in negative online reviews, which can significantly damage a practice’s reputation.

Staff Burnout

When your front office staff arrive in the morning, are they faced with the incoming calls and associated voicemails from the previous night or, even more daunting, those that arrived over the weekend? On a busy Monday morning, with the phone ringing almost constantly and patients coming through the door for their appointments, you can be certain those voicemails are not a priority.

And as your staff tries to juggle the nearly impossible task of answering the early morning surge of calls, checking in patients, and attending to their other administrative tasks, fatigue begins to settle in.  A study in JAMA Network revealed that healthcare workers are reaching burnout levels that are higher today than they were five years ago, and those levels are staggering.

Nearly one-third of healthcare employees experience at least one symptom of burnout, according to Indeed’s “Pulse of Healthcare 2024 Report.” An after-hours medical answering service helps reduce missed patient calls and overburdened staff.

Legal and Compliance Issues

Healthcare regulations often require after-hours access. For instance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services require providers to have a 24/7 contact method. Furthermore, patients must be able to reach a live person or an on-call physician. State-level laws and managed care organizations also set after-hours access requirements. An after-hours medical call center fulfills these requirements.

How to Ensure No Call Goes Unanswered

After-hours regulations are in place to ensure patients have access to the care they need and also to prevent unnecessary emergency department visits that contribute to overcrowding and staff overload.

The solution lies in eliminating unanswered calls, ensuring every patient feels they have access to their physician. To achieve this, medical practices are turning to professional after-hours medical answering services that specialize in supporting physicians.

Professional Medical Answering Services

Professional medical answering services are far different from call centers that serve multiple industries. These answering services are specifically designed for the healthcare industry. They’ve trained their virtual receptionists in medical terminology, specific protocols associated with each organization, and the soft skills required in this industry, including empathy and active listening.

Technology Solutions

Technology solutions for after-hours and peak phone-in periods include Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems, which, when programmed correctly, offer a seamless call routing experience for patients. Non-urgent calls are directed to voicemail, and urgent calls go to the on-call provider.

Why Medical Answering Services Transform Patient Care

An overburdened front office staff leads to more than missed calls, lost opportunities, and reduced revenue. It also results in physicians feeling overwhelmed. Research from Athenahealth found that 78% of physicians said staff shortages or poor retention negatively impacted their organization. Because of these shortages, nearly two-thirds of physicians feel overwhelmed by administrative requirements.

Imagine when that burden is lifted. Does it affect patient care? Absolutely.

How to Choose and Implement an After-Hours Solution

Instead of hiring more full-time staff, medical practices are turning to professional, HIPAA-compliant after-hours medical call services. The following represent the essential services and features to look for:

• 24/7 coverage
• Well-trained, US-based virtual assistants
• Appointment scheduling, cancellations, and rescheduling
• Numerous physician specialities
• Professional call answering through metrics and reports
• Integrates with your existing medical software
• Patient outreach, secure messaging, automated solutions, and nurse triage services
• Compliance with HIPAA and HITRUST certification

At notifyMD®, we’ve been in the business of supporting the healthcare community for over 30 years. We set the benchmarks in medical answering services. To learn more about the services we provide, contact notifyMD®.