Learn about our services – Appointment Reminder Calls and Texts, A/R Courtesy Calls and Texts, No Show Reminders and our A/R Patient Collection Platform as well as our integration abilities with your Practice Management and Electronic Health Records systems. For your convenience, our most common customer questions are answered right here.
Not finding what you want? Reach out directly through our Contact Us page.
Are you just an auto-dialer?
Comparing our service to an auto-dialer is like comparing a tricycle to a motorcycle.
An automatic dialer is an electronic device or software that automatically dials telephone numbers. Once the call has been answered, the auto-dialer either plays a recorded message or connects the call to a live person. Of course we do all that, but making the phone call or sending a text is the smallest part of what we do.
- Can an auto-dialer communicate with your EHR/PM system to retrieve the necessary data to determine who to call? No, but we do.
- Does an auto-dialer apply complex business rules – your custom rules – to decide who to call and when? No, but that is at the core of our system.
- Can an auto-dialer decide whether to call a patient or send a text based on the patient’s phone number? We do.
- Does an auto-dialer provide you with a daily comprehensive report providing who was called, how the call was answered, and what action was taken by the patient? We do.
- Can an auto-dialer receive a reply to a reminder text from the patient and provide you with the reply? We do it all the time.
I have a question...
Please ask…we like helping our clients.
Can I customize my reminder message?
Yes.
During the initial setup, our team will work with you to define the exact message to say in your reminder. And since we have been sending reminders for many years, our team has the proven experience to help you define what works best. And if after a few weeks you find out that you are not getting the results you expected, our team will work with you to make additional changes to your message.
Note: A different reminder is typically used depending on if the call is answered by a human or a machine. For example, if the call is answered by the patients voicemail, saying “Press 1 now to contact our billing department” would not make much sense.
Once the message is set up in the system, we will send you as many test calls/texts as required until you are 100% satisfied with the message.
Can my reminder be in my own voice?
Sure.
Our system supports either an .mp3 or .wav file, and you can record the message right from our website or use any device (i.e. iphone, computer, etc) that creates an audio file. And we have professional “audio splicers” on staff that will take your audio file and break it up into segments, allowing for dynamic information (i.e. appointment date/time) to be added.
And there is no extra fee for this service.
Are you HIPAA compliant?
Yes.
- Our production server is located in a data-center that is both HIPAA and PCI compliant;
- No Personal Medical Information (PMI) is ever published or presented in any unsecured way;
- We require that a Business Associate Agreement is in place before starting any work;
- Any documents that are emailed are encrypted and password-protected;
- We continually review and modify our process to ensure continued compliance with HIPAA regulations.
Can I monitor and manage how many calls to make in a day?
Yes.
On the portal, we provide you with how many phone calls will be made for the day (Manage System->Daily Transaction Count) and allow you to set the maximum calls to make for the day. The system will stop making calls when it reaches the value you set.
For example, let’s say that 600 patients are scheduled to receive a call today, but Mary called in sick, and 600 calls could overwhelm your staff. You have the ability to go into the portal and limit the maximum number of calls to 400. When the system reaches 400 calls, it will stop making any further calls. Of course tomorrow, when Mary comes back to work, the 200 hundred calls not made today will be re-scheduled and made tomorrow.
Another example of how you can manage call volume is if Mary is responsible for specific practices, you could “turn off” just those practices from the portal for the day, and then when Mary comes back to work, just turn the practices back “on”.
How does it work?
The way in which the system will work for you is dependent on whether we can retrieve your data directly from your EHR/PM (preferred), or if you will be providing us your information via secure email. But the overall process is the same.
- You schedule your appointments or send your billing statements exactly the same as you do today;
- Our system retrieves/receives your information on daily or weekly (depending on how we are getting your data);
- Based on your predefined rules, our system will determine which patients should be called for the day;
- At a time determined by you, our system will begin calling/texting your patients;
- After sending the reminders, we will provide you with an encrypted, password-protected report that tells you who was called, when they were called, how the call was answered (Human/Machine), and what action they took in response to the call (Action example would be “Did they press ‘1’ to contact your office.”).
What other charges will I have to pay?
Other than the one-time setup fee of $39.00 and the monthly usage fee, we guarantee you will pay no other charges.
Examples:
You want to change your message after 6 months – no charge.
You want to change when your reminders go out – no charge.
Do I have to sign a long-term contract?
No.
You can stop using our service at any time, for any reason.
What does "Action Taken" refer to on the Analytics page?
When a user answers the phone, they are typically given the option to press “1” to contact your office. We track the number of users that press “1” (Action) because this is a good indication of them calling to make a payment.
Do you charge for support?
No.
As part of our service, we provide free support and maintenance.
How much does your appointment reminder service cost?
The pricing for the service is very simple…
- There is a one time setup charge of $39.00;
- It’s only fourteen cents ($.14) per minute/text for a successful phone call or text;
- There is a minimum monthly charge of $25 – which equates to 175 calls/texts per month;
- There is no long-term contract. If you decide you don’t need the service anymore, just let us know.
How much does your A/R courtesy call service cost?
The pricing for the service is as follows…
- There is a one time setup charge of $39.00;
- It’s only twenty cents ($.20) per minute/text for a successful phone call or text;
- There is a minimum monthly charge of $49.99 – which includes 150 calls/texts per month;
- Per payment processed- Interchange Rates+.5% of payment plus $.20;
- No Application Fee. No Annual Fee. No AVS fees. No Gateway Charges;
- There is no long-term contract. If you decide you don’t need the service anymore, just let us know.
How do I get started?
We’ve made getting started very simple.
- Either click on the top right menu item “Get Started”, or go to https://patientlyspeaking.com/get-started, and fill out the registration form;
- Once our system admin approves your registration, you will be able to login to our system and tell us exactly how you want the system configured for your practice. Our team is always available to help you with the configuration.
Of course if you have any questions about getting started, you can email us at info@PatientlySpeaking.com or call (855) 441-4402. We always look forward to hearing from our clients.