Your front desk is the first impression every patient gets. When the phones ring nonstop, an in-house receptionist can be stretched between the people in the waiting room and the people on hold. A virtual medical receptionist is one way to fix that. Here is how the two compare.
What a virtual medical receptionist does
A virtual receptionist is a trained person who answers your practice's calls remotely, in your practice's name. A good one works inside your scheduling system and can:
- Answer calls live and book, confirm or reschedule appointments.
- Take refill requests and messages and route them to the right person.
- Collect new patient details and insurance information.
- Send urgent calls to the on-call provider.
- Cover lunch hours, busy mornings and after-hours.
The cost comparison
A fully loaded in-house receptionist, counting wages, benefits, payroll taxes and time off, typically costs about $3,800 to $5,800 per month. You also pay for hiring, training and cover when they are out. A virtual receptionist is usually priced per hour, per minute or per month, and you pay only for the coverage you need. At InCareMD, front desk support is $8 per hour, starting at $640 per month for 80 hours.
Where in-house still wins
Someone physically has to greet patients, check them in and handle paperwork at the window. Many practices keep one person at the desk and move the phones to a virtual team, so the person in the office can focus on the patients in front of them.
Where virtual wins
- No missed calls during busy times, breaks or sick days.
- After-hours coverage without overtime.
- Scales with you. Add hours in flu season and cut back in quiet months.
- Visibility. With the right service you can see every call and its outcome.
How to decide
Count the calls your practice misses in a normal week, and how long patients wait on hold. If either number worries you, moving the phones to a virtual team is usually the fastest fix. Make sure any service signs a BAA, trains every agent in HIPAA and lets you see the work as it happens.
InCareMD answers in your practice's name, inside the systems you already use, and every call appears live on your free Pulseline dashboard. Read more about our front desk support or compare typical answering service costs.