Healthcare professionals are under a huge umbrella that involves multi-level communication and transactions between patients and healthcare professionals, and between healthcare professionals themselves.
For this reason, it is critical that conversations are real-time and easily accessible to all parties. One way to achieve this is through the support of Live Chat Agents.
If you are still one of the doctors who have not yet used Live Chat Agents, it is high time you do so now. You will definitely not regret it, why? Read the reasons below.
Below are reasons why Live Chat Agents is so important for doctors and medical practices:
#1 – A doctor’s website needs a receptionist.
Just as a real-life doctor’s office needs a receptionist, so does a doctor’s website. Live chat agents are there to greet your clients – past, present and future.
When a patient visits your practice, a secretary, physician assistant, or receptionist is there to greet the patient. The patient would not want to walk into an empty room. She expects someone to be there to greet her.
The visitor would also expect the same thing on your website. Your website and you are one. Your website is an online extension of your office, but it is still your office. Therefore, a receptionist is an important part of it.
You can install a receptionist in your online practice/clinic by taking the help of Live Chat Agents. You can interview the patient and write down important details while they are waiting for you.
No. 2 – A doctor’s website needs an assistant.
When patients visit the website, they will surely have some questions they want to ask.
Examples are:
Can I schedule a visit today?
What time will the doctor be in?
What can I eat?
Do I have to fast if I want to have my blood tested for uric acid?
How many hours should I fast?
My back itches; can I take off the back brace?
What should I do if itching occurs?
Do I need to avoid these foods?
These are just a few questions your patients may ask.
If the Live Chat Agent manages your website 24/7, then it would be able to answer all these little questions. Would not that be less work for you?
No. 3 – Doctors and medical practices need an online manager.
Of course you do and you need an online manager. Almost everything is automated today, and you can not do all the tasks yourself. You may have staff in your practice, but what about your online clinic? There should be someone in charge there, too.
Even if you do not do surgeries or serious consultations online, you still need to deal with patients or prospects. A competent manager needs to be there to guide the new website visitors or your existing patients.
The Live Chat Agent can act as your online manager, coordinating your private practice activities with your online duties.
There are many facets that you can manage online. The manager will arrange your schedule so that all the tasks can be done properly. The online tasks must be scheduled in such a way that the offline tasks are not overlapped.
Examples are:
8 to 9:30 a.m. – Surgery – removal of a cyst in the wrist (clinic).
10 to 11 a.m. – Consultation with Ms. Joe (online appointment)
11 to 12 of the clock – Consultation of Mr. John (clinic)
In doing so, your Live Chat Agent can also motivate your online customers to take advantage of your products. Money is not everything, but if you can make more money online, that would be great, right?
No. 4 – Your patients deserve the best treatment
Your patients deserve the best treatment online, too. You can only do that if you take care of them as soon as they “enter” your online clinic/website. You can not possibly do that personally, but at least have someone do it for you.
In your place, Live Chat Agent will do it for you – to make sure that whatever your patients need, they are taken care of.
If they need to consult you, they will get an appointment for the consultation. If they just need an online chat with you, then the Live Agent will act on your instructions. Their live chat agents would treat them like queens and kings.
No. 5 – Follow up consultations can be done online.
Depending on how you work, you can do post consultations online. The live chat agent can contact you at the patient’s request, and you allow the patient to call you directly, or have the Live Chat Agent relay your message to the patient.
This is especially useful for patients who are almost well. You can use Live Chat Agents to provide patients with reminders and the date of their next visit.
These are the reasons why Live Chat Agents is so important for doctors and medical practices. If you do not have an agent yet, try using their services. A 15-day trial is offered for free anyway. As the cliché goes, “you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain”.
So, get with the times. Update the way you practice your profession. This way, you could get ahead with your patients.
Conclusion
You need to embrace the updates in technology so that you can perform your duties as a doctor or medical professional. Creating an online presence is essential so that you can keep up with the advancements in science and technology.
You can not stay locked in your offline clinic forever. You also need to take advantage of an online practice. Almost all patients are online users. They would appreciate it if you bring your services to their doorstep.
Of course, you need to categorize which tasks can be done online and which cannot. That is up to your own discretion as a doctor or healthcare provider.
The Live Chat Agent will follow your orders and follow any instructions you give them. You need it to organize, manage and support the online operation of your website/online clinic.
