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When visiting a hospital or a clinic, one is bound to think over the long line of people waiting to book an appointment. In today’s time, one can book their flights, get their food, buy clothes and get more done, merely by placing a call, but to fulfil the basic amenity of visiting a doctor one still struggles through long queues in the hospitals.
In this blog, we’ll be looking at the various problems faced by the healthcare industry and how toll-free number have proven to be the best solution for them.
Eliminate Manual Administrative Tasks
The biggest issue in the healthcare industry is with administration. Long queues for appointment is where the lack of organized administration is observed most. And the first step in healthcare journey is booking an appointment. This is where maximum frustration is faced, the rest of the journey becomes a drag.
To avoid such tussle, a hospital needs to acquire toll-free number service. With toll-free solution, a hospital can book multiple appointments simultaneously on the same number. Patients will not have to be physically present inside the hospital premises to book an appointment. The same can happen with a mere phone call.
Also, most vendors provide Interactive Voice Response (IVR) services along with the toll-free solution. With IVR the requirement for administrative personnel is greatly reduced. IVR itself can handle most calls, book appointments automatically, check the availability of a doctor, provide immediate ambulance assistance among other things.
This saves time for both patients and hospitals. Patients no longer have to wait in queues or languish between operators to get to the right department.
Higher Client Engagement
A person can handle only one client at a time. Without toll-free services, client engagement is quite low. Hence lack of automation and its effects are observed among the ruckus of long queues and suffering patients.
Also, the reliance on manpower for administrative tasks leads to a substantial expenditure of time and money where it is not required. Not only appointments but IVR can handle most queries by itself. This begs the question that when state of the art equipment can be used to treat patients, then why should manpower be invested in everyday repetitive tasks.
Patient Management
Though administrative tasks can be easily handled with IVR, patient management can be easily handled when your system is integrated with Customer Relationship Management (CRM). This makes it easy for hospitals to maintain a patient’s history. Upon a call from a patient, their previous medical conditions can be easily identified.
In case of emergencies, this is vital, as a patient’s history can be identified as soon as the call is received. This empowers the doctor at the scene of an emergency to administer drugs, without worrying about reactions. This, at times, helps in critical life and death situations.
With CRM in place, a hospital can send customer reminders, deliver reports, provide updates on existing reports, and schedule appointments when needed. To top it all off, this can be done without any human indulgence. This saves time and money, further, the manpower can be utilized in the more critical areas.
The integration of toll-free number with outbound IVR can send an emergency alert and provide fast assistance by helping in terms of the contacting nearest ambulance, sending advance notification to a hospital to arrange a doctor.
Emergence of Medical Tourism
With India’s medical tourism aiming to share 20% of the world’s market capital by 2020, toll-free solution is inevitable. India is having a cut-throat competition in medical tourism. Every company want to provide a hassle-free service to its clients.
Clients, on the other hand, are looking for fast medical support. Toll-free number incorporation with IVR allows a company to receive and manage multiple calls simultaneously. No manpower is wasted upon this, and hassle-free personalized IVR is appealing to the client.
Takeaway
In doing so, toll-free numbers are going to be the most integral part of such systems. Toll-free numbers in themselves will help increase the extent of medical tourism in India. When integrated with IVR they will help eliminate administrative burden. When integrated with CRM they will provide for patient management. When integrated with apps they will form the basis of life-saving phenomenon.
Now, that the facts are established, it is clear that “asset” is only an understatement. As healthcare industry advances, toll-free solution will be the requirement for it.
