Outsourcing customer care in the field of medicine can come with advantages and disadvantages.
Whether you’re still hesitant to people who are only virtually present or you are skeptical about the efficiency of the offshore process— you can check out how to mitigate your fears with this blog.
Read on to find out what you should or shouldn’t do when outsourcing your customer care.
Do: Provide Intensive Training Materials and Programs
Based on an Accenture study, 76% of healthcare executives believe that training is the most critical aspect in attaining successful outsourcing outcomes.
In medicine, outsourcing customer care requires an in-depth knowledge of the medical jargon, protocols, and patient privacy laws.
Basically, it is essential that the outsourced employees receive comprehensive instruction to learn how to handle medical inquiries, offer correct information, and maintain patient confidentiality.
Don’t: Forget about Cultural Fit
It is vital to take into account cultural and linguistic barriers when it comes to outsourcing customer service, especially to foreign countries that might understand certain terms differently.
Effective communication is critical to providing high-quality treatment. Breakdowns caused by language problems can result in errors, dissatisfaction, and decreased patient safety.
According to a Deloitte report, 53% of healthcare providers faced language and cultural hurdles when outsourcing customer service— a high number that can be reduced through a rigorous recruitment process.
Do: Monitor and Evaluate Performance
It’s a common misconception that outsourcing means you give up control of a specific function in your business. However, you can still ensure quality in your company by tracking performance indicators (KPIs) to look into their development within your institution.
Consequently, The Everest Group reports that 82% of healthcare organizations consistently monitor and evaluate the efficiency of their outsourced customer service teams.
You can even conduct periodic quality assessments can aid in identifying areas for improvement and ensuring service level agreements are met.
Don’t: Rely solely on cost savings
Numerous medical companies outsource customer care for cost savings.
While cost savings are highly likely, this does not need to be the primary focus.
Priority should also be given to care quality, patient satisfaction, and brand reputation.
Equally, a good balance can be achieved by choosing trained teams to take over your outsourced work while still looking at the price.
Do: Ensure Strong Data Security and Compliance
A Black Book Market Research survey reveals that 89% of healthcare organizations prioritize data security and privacy when outsourcing customer service.
Not only do you have to keep up with the competition, but you also want to ensure your patients that their data is safe.
Strong data protection strategies and guaranteeing compliance with relevant legislation can optimize outsourcing customer care.
Once everyone knows their data is secure, there will be likely no complaints regarding data protection.
Don’t: Discourage Patient-centric Care
A patient-centered approach can have a positive effect on customer satisfaction.
This is affirmed by the leading peer-reviewed research publication, the Journal of Medical Internet Research.
Generally, they point to empathizing with customers as one of the reasons for increased patient satisfaction.
The Bottom Line on Outsourcing Customer Care in Medicine
Outsourcing customer care can bring numerous positive effects to your team.
Enhanced patient experience, cost savings, and increased efficiency are a few benefits of outsourcing customer care in the medical field.
Just don’t forget to consider cultural fit, data security, and patient-centric care as well.
With Managed Outsourced Virtual Employees, you can ensure that your outsourced team has all of these criteria checked off. Contact us now to start your outsourcing journey.
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