If you are involved in the running of a busy medical practice, you know how important your phone system is. You also know that in order to guarantee the long-term success of your practice, your communications need to be prioritised and can always be improved. 

Your practice would benefit tremendously from a reliable phone system that provides the advanced features needed for effective communication while keeping your communication costs down. This is where a modern PABX system comes in. 

We’re seeing more and more doctor and specialist offices as well as various practices and clinics making the switch to these business phone systems. And so the question that you need to be asking... Are you ready to make the switch and bring advanced, effortless communications into your practice?

Firstly, What is a Modern PABX Phone System?

Modern PABX systems eliminate the need for outdated copper wire telephony. Also known as cloud-based or hosted PABX, these systems are provided and accessed completely via the internet. Hosting a variety of advanced features, PBX solutions are able to unify communications on to one user-friendly platform.

So, Is a Modern PABX System the Right Fit For Your Practice?

• Feeling swamped by the number of calls you are facing each day?
• Patients complaining that your phone system is difficult to navigate?
• Spending too much on your monthly telephone bill?
• Feel that you could improve on your practices in-house and patient communications?

If any of the above apply to you, it may be time to consider making the change to a business phone system.

The Benefits of Modern PABX for Medical Practices:

The benefits of a hosted PBX system are endless. From improved collaboration between staff members to better patient experiences - Let’s have a look at how these phone systems can improve your practice:

Integration with Patient Data & Health Records:

Modern Cloud-based PABX systems can be seamlessly integrated with your EHR (Electronic Health Record) and Practice Management Systems (PMS). 

• Patient data, appointments and other relevant information can be set to pop up on the screen as a patient calls.
• This system can intuitively assess the level of urgency by analyzing a patient’s response code and the frequency of recent consultations. 
• By simply clicking a button (and without the hassle of having to print or fax) patient data can be easily transferred to necessary recipients. 
• The system can be programmed to remind patients of appointments, overdue payments as well as appointment scheduling.

Practice Flexibility with Modern PABX

As medical practices are ever evolving, they need to have flexible and adaptable communication systems that can evolve with them. With a modern PBX system, calls are made and received using the internet and so the network doesn’t rely on hefty cabling or an internal server. This allows for new extensions to be added quickly and easily. 

As long as your medical practice has a stable internet connection, calls can be made using a variety of devices, from mobile phones and tablets to desktop phones and even your computers. 

Remote Support & Minimal Downtimes

Downtime can be disastrous in any healthcare environment. When a traditional phone line or on-premise PBX goes down, on site technicians are needed in order to resolve any issues. This can waste valuable time and lead to a halt in your practice’ communications. Making use of a modern business phone system will allow for your support requests to be handled remotely and resolved within minutes. 

Cost Saving of Modern PABX Phone Systems:

Business PABX phone systems have proven to save medical practices who make the switch up to 55% on their telecom bills as 

• Switching to a modern PBX system eliminates the need to pay upfront for expensive installations while saving your practice on expenses in the form of repairs, downtimes and maintenance.
• You will be charged on a usage basis (only paying for the hostage space and the bandwidth that your practice actually needs). 
• As they make use of an internet connection, these systems require no additional physical hardware as well as no software maintenance or upgrade costs.
• Modern PABX allows for seamless connections between multiple branches within a practice while allowing free inter-branch calls. 

The Reliability of Modern Technology:

Traditional copper cable lines are susceptible to a number of factors (bad weather conditions, hardware failures, electrical outages and software issues). Hosted PABX systems are far more resilient to these external factors. As long as you have a reliable internet connection (with fibre optic cabling being the most resilient) your PBX phone system should experience little-to-no downtimes.

Six ‘Must Have’ PABX Features For Any Medical Practice:

1. Call Queuing

Making use of this feature allows receptionists to take their time with active calls and play a message for patients within the queue, informing them of their placement in the line.

This way, every patient gets the time they deserve, and your office staff will be equipped to handle busier time periods efficiently. 

2. Auto Attendant

This advanced feature will allow you to set up your practice's own ‘virtual secretary’ that puts your callers through to the correct department or member of staff before the phone has even been answered. By prioritising the call and routing it based on automatic prompts you will be able to speed up your communication process. This benefits your reception staff, as they do not have to spend their time transferring loads of calls.

3. Call Recording

Call recording is a simple feature that will allow you to review any interactions your staff have had with patients and callers - In doing so, you can monitor your practices call quality, improve communications and sort out any discrepancies or liabilities.

4. Call Transfers

These business phone systems allow for calls to be transferred quickly and effortlessly to the correct people within a medical practice (whether that be within the same office, in another building or even in another country). 

5. Call Forwarding

Call forwarding makes it possible for members within your practice to be ‘on call’ anywhere and at any time needed. With the ability to forward calls directly to mobile phones or any given number, your practice’s communications are guaranteed to run smoothly. 

If the original extension is ‘busy’ or left to ring for a certain amount of time, the call can be set to automatically forward, ensuring optimal patient care and eliminating the risk of missing important calls.

6. Voicemail Options

A modern PABX will allow your practice to add your own personal touch by creating a custom greeting so that patients know what to expect after leaving their messages. You can also manage your voicemails by accessing them online or by choosing to receive emails with the recordings attached.

For more information on these and other advanced features offered by modern PABX phone systems, visit our article on The Best Features of A Modern PABX System.

In conclusion, compared to a traditional phone system, a modern PABX system has a host of superior benefits that will improve your practice by saving on valuable costs while enhancing both your staff and patient communications. 

For more information or further assistance, get in touch with one of our highly trained team members at X Corp today, or try our ‘Quick Quote Tool’ to get your custom pricing.