How to Select an Answering Service for your Dermatology or Cosmetic Surgery Medical Practice.

There are many medical answering services out there, and it’s important to select a service that is familiar with your particular medical specialty.

Dermatology is a unique field in that many patients will be seeking cosmetic + non-essential procedures. Often times these patients are paying out-of-pocket, and therefore expect the highest levels of service quality. An effective answering service can be a critical element of a successful dermatology practice.

My Salon Desk Cosmetic Medicine Answering Service

Here’s 6 things to look out for when selecting an answering service for a dermatology practice:

1. Dermatology Specialty — DON’T make the mistake of selecting a generic answering service! If the answering service staff are unfamiliar with common dermatological treatments and procedures, they’ll end up forwarding most calls to you anyway, defeating the purpose of an answering service.
2. Fair Pricing — many services charge by the minute, and may drag out calls or “round up” the number of minutes to achieve higher billing. Services also often charge for follow-up messaging or forwarded calls, which quickly hikes up your costs. Worst of all, they’ll likely still make you pay for robo-calls and telemarketers!
3. Appointment Booking — make life easier for yourself and choose a service that can book and edit appointments directly into your scheduling software.
4. Sales Support — select a service that assists you with promoting product retail sales, and promoting upgrades on desired services. Collaborative sales are the key to a great business relationship with your answering service.
5. HIPAA Compliance — their staff should be regularly trained on patient privacy, and their phone and messaging infrastructure should be HIPAA-compliant.
6. Reliable, white-glove service — as you will be entrusting the service with your business, you’ll want to select a service that has receptionists highly trained in customer service. You need someone you can count on to
7. Custom Greetings — Impress your patients and inform them of upcoming sales and specials with a custom call greeting played before each call.

You need to select an answering service that has receptionists trained in many common procedures, including Botox, Coolsculpting, Juvederm, Radiofrequency Treatments, Laser Resurfacing, IPL, Chemical Peels, and the Hydrafacial. They are also familiar with common brands in the industry, such as Avene, La Roche Posay, Skin Medica, and Glytone.

A top-notch answering services is an excellent choice for dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons when they provide simple tiered call packages based on the number of calls answered per month, and never charge for spam or junk calls. Appointment booking, collaborative promotional efforts, custom greetings, and encrypted call handling are also excellent features to have.

Even if you are a traditional dermatologist who treats eczema, psoriasis, and moles, an answering service can still be of great assistance. Consider options such as My Salon Desk, an answering service that does all this and more.