Serving 450+ Home Health & Hospice Agencies Nationwide
Compassionate, 24/7 call center support to keep your agency connected
For home care and hospice providers, every call is of the utmost importance. It could be a patient with an urgent need or a family member seeking reassurance and guidance during a difficult time. That’s why having a reliable answering service is crucial for firms.
24-hour answering services like CMS are critical in ensuring that every call is answered with compassion and understanding, even in the most challenging circumstances. By entrusting their calls to an answering service, home care and hospice providers can feel confident that their patients and families are receiving the care and attention they need, when they need it.
The nation’s leading answering service for home health & hospice providers
At CMS, we’re proud to be the leading answering service for home health and hospice providers across the United States. With over 15 years of experience serving the industry, we’ve developed an unmatched level of expertise and a deep understanding of the unique needs and challenges of home health and hospice care providers.
We take pride in supporting over 450 facilities nationwide and handling hundreds of patient and personnel calls every day. Our operators are specially trained to handle calls from patients, families, and healthcare providers with the utmost professionalism and compassion, ensuring that everyone receives the support they need when they need it.
Experience the CMS Difference
Home Health Answering Service Solutions Tailored to Your Needs
If it involves your phone calls, we can help! CMS provides live answering services tailored to your needs, from virtual receptionist duties to fully customized call center implementations. So whether you have a simple script to gather information from each caller or a complicated call escalation procedure involving hundreds of variables, we can deliver a professional, accurate, and efficient solution that helps you get more done for a fraction of the cost.
24-Hour Live Answering & Virtual Receptionist
Our Virtual Receptionist and 24/7 Live Answering service is a cost-effective alternative to hiring a traditional office receptionist. With our solution, you’ll get the benefits of having a receptionist without the associated costs of salaries, benefits, and training. Our highly trained agents act as an extension of your staff, answering calls promptly, and providing professional and compassionate support to callers. They can schedule appointments, route calls to the appropriate staff member, and answer questions, all while providing personalized attention to each caller.
With 24/7 availability, you can ensure that calls are answered promptly, no matter the time of day or night. Whether you’re a home care provider, hospice agency, or medical facility, our solution can help you manage your calls and improve your overall customer service. By entrusting your calls to us, you can free up your staff to focus on providing high-quality care to your patients and save on overhead costs.
Call Triage & Emergency Dispatching
Our Call Triage & Emergency Dispatching service provides a non-clinical triage answering service that can pass calls on to on-call nurses, as well as escalate call types to specified providers per the agency’s instructions. Our highly trained live agents work with your agency to develop call scripts that ensure patients and families receive prompt, compassionate, and efficient care.
For example, if a patient’s family member calls in the middle of the night with concerns about their loved one’s medication, our agents will connect them with the on-call nurse who can provide immediate assistance. By utilizing our call triage and emergency dispatching service, home care and hospice agencies can provide 24/7 support to their patients and their families, reduce unnecessary hospital admissions, and improve patient outcomes.
After Hours Answering Service
At CMS, we understand that healthcare doesn’t stop at 5 PM. That’s why we offer After Hours Answering for Home Care & Hospice, a solution that ensures your organization is always available to patients and families, no matter the time of day. Our team of experienced agents are available 24/7 to answer calls, respond to emergencies, and provide the same level of compassionate care your patients have come to expect during regular business hours.
For example, if a patient or family member has a question or concern after hours, they can reach a live agent who can provide reassurance and guidance. If an emergency arises, our agents are trained to handle the situation with care and professionalism, dispatching the appropriate personnel as needed.
By utilizing our After Hours Answering service for home health & hospice, you can provide around-the-clock support without the need for costly in-house staff or overtime pay. And with our customizable call scripts, you can ensure that your patients and families receive the same level of care and attention, regardless of when they call. Trust CMS to be there for your patients when they need you most.
Employee Call-Off and Shift Fill
In the home care and hospice industry, staffing and attendance can be a challenge. Unexpected call-offs from staff can leave your agency short-staffed and scrambling to find a replacement. That’s where our Employee Call-Off and Shift Fill service comes in.
Our live answering service can field home health aide call-offs 24/7, ensuring that your agency is promptly notified of staff absences. We can then initiate shift fill notifications and procedures, contacting available staff to cover the shift and ensuring that the agency properly documents all attendance calls. By using our service, your agency can minimize staffing gaps and ensure that shifts are adequately covered.
Our service is designed to integrate with your agency’s scheduling software, making shift fill notifications and procedures seamless and efficient. Our experienced live agents are trained to handle these calls with compassion and understanding, making sure that the affected staff feel supported during a difficult time.
With our Employee Call-Off and Shift Fill service, your agency can have peace of mind knowing that staffing and attendance challenges are being handled efficiently and effectively.
Auto Attendant and IVR
Our Auto Attendant and IVR solutions allow callers to interact with an automated system that can direct them to the appropriate department or individual. This is particularly useful for home health and hospice providers who receive a high volume of calls and need to efficiently direct callers to the right place. With our custom IVR options, you can provide callers with important information such as office hours or emergency contact information, freeing up your staff to focus on other tasks.
Our Auto Attendant & IVR solutions are fully customizable and can be tailored to your specific needs. We can help you set up a menu of options that allow callers to select from a list of choices, such as “press 1 for appointments, press 2 for billing,” and so on. This ensures that callers are directed to the right department or individual quickly and efficiently, without having to be transferred multiple times.
By implementing our Auto Attendant & IVR solutions, you can streamline your call handling process, reduce wait times, and improve overall customer satisfaction. Additionally, our solutions can help you save money on staffing costs, as you can handle more calls with fewer personnel.
Overflow Call Handling
When your in-house staff is unable to keep up with the volume of incoming calls, our overflow call handling solution can help ensure that every call is answered promptly and professionally. We provide additional support during peak periods, high call volumes, or when your in-house staff is unavailable due to sick days or vacations. Our experienced live agents will seamlessly integrate with your existing systems to provide a consistent level of service and ensure that every call is answered with compassion and efficiency.
Our overflow answering service can also help you save money by providing a cost-effective solution that allows you to scale your staffing needs without having to hire additional employees. By outsourcing your overflow call handling needs to us, you can be confident that your patients are receiving the highest level of care, while also freeing up your staff to focus on other critical tasks.
24/7/365
Availability
100%
Customizable
3,000+
Clients
99.99%
Uptime Guarantee
Why Use an Answering Service?
While it’s true that people depend on digital technology a lot when it comes to communication, nothing beats live answering services by CMS if you want to keep your customers, convert leads, grow your client database, and drive business profitability. We can help you:
Save Money
CMS helps you lower your operating costs. You don’t have to buy equipment or hire staff. Only pay for the time our agents spend handling your calls.
Remain Available
Be there for your prospects, customers, and employees with around-the-clock support. Our 24/7 availability keeps your business moving and ensures you never miss an important call.
Improve Service
Improve customer satisfaction by extending your customer service capabilities and delivering friendly human support on every call.
Grow Your Business
Grow and scale your business by capturing every opportunity, reducing distractions, and expanding your capacity.
Customers Expect to Reach You By Phone — CMS Ensures You Are Always Available
Calls are preferred for quick service
There’s nothing like a quick phone call to get a customer service concern resolved or addressed right away, so we totally understand why customers want to speak to a real person.
In fact, 50% of consumers (regardless of age) contact customer service using their telephone.4 They don’t want to waste time on an endless cycle of back and forth through email or messaging.
So, when you make sure there’s somebody professional at the end of the line taking care of your customers, you’re also showing them how much you care and value their time.
Don’t help your competition
Did you know that 61% of customers who are in the middle of the buying cycle call the business they’re interested in?5 Can you afford to lose out on valuable leads or prospective customers if you do? And can you bear the thought of them going to your competition?
At CMS, we know the rewards of consistently answering calls, as well as the consequences of ignoring or not being able to attend to other calls. One phone call can make a world of difference to your business, so we won’t be taking any chances. Neither should you.
Protect your reputation
Ever get that awful feeling when no one seems to be available to answer your calls, especially when there’s no other way to resolve your concern?
When people are made to feel ignored, you lose their loyalty. They start to question the credibility and reputation of your brand, so it’s no big mystery why 68% of customers leave a company because they think it doesn’t care.6
With CMS, you can build up your reputation and keep your customers loyal to your brand no matter what.
Say goodbye to voicemail
Answering machines may have been a novelty the first time they were introduced. Today, however, voicemails are not only considered productivity killers but are also untrustworthy — that is, people assume nobody ever listens to them and that they’ll never get their problem resolved.
Besides, other than baby boomers and Gen Xers, millennials and members of Generation Z probably make up a portion of your market, so it’s useful to know these younger generations can be averse to voicemails.7
So, better not leave phone calls to chance.
Partner up with CMS and see your loyal customer base grow like never before!
24/7 Call Center Services for Home Health Agencies
Home health agencies are busy, 24/7 enterprises responsible for tending to the healthcare needs of patients from the comfort of their homes. Therefore, professionalism, compassion, and communication are paramount. As a live answering service serving the needs of home health agencies nationwide, CMS specializes in delivering call center solutions that help agencies maintain constant availability. Our call center agents field calls around the clock and coordinate communication between caregivers, schedulers, medical professionals, patients, and family members.
Working as an Extension of Your Agency
Our home healthcare answering service is staffed by highly trained call center agents who are experienced at handling the vast array of calls you receive. Whether it’s an after-hours staffing emergency, daytime overflow call, facility admission, lab results, or a routine office message — we can tailor our response and scripting to the exact situation and ensure all necessary information is collected. With hundreds of home health clients nationwide, CMS has over 50 years of experience providing medical answering services. Our services are designed to meet your needs and are customized for home health agencies of all shapes and sizes.
Call Answering Service Features
- 24/7 Home Healthcare Answering Service. After hours, daytime overflow, around-the-clock — whenever you need us, we’re there.
- Home Health On-call Scheduling. On-call scheduling software and escalation procedures for ensuring calls reach the proper personnel.
- 100% HIPAA Compliant. Live operators and systems built around HIPAA regulations.
- Secure Messaging. Safe, encrypted messaging that prevents leaks of personal data.
- Employee Hotline and Dispatching. We can field caregiver calls 24/7 and process them based on the call type.
Custom Answering Services for Home Health Companies
We deliver more than your typical medical answering service by combining top-tier customer service with leading technology personalized to your organization’s needs.
- Virtual Office Receptionist. Home health virtual office receptionists help maintain a courteous telephone presence while freeing office employees to work on other tasks.
- Home Health Appointment Scheduling. Give patients the ability to schedule and manage their appointments 24 hours a day. Our answering service integrates with numerous web-based calendar systems.
- Emergency Answering Service. Be prepared for every emergency call. We refer calls to the emergency room, patch patients to on-call staff, and facilitate urgent message dispatching.
- After-Hours Answering Service. Important calls don’t wait for office hours. Maintain availability with after-hours answering services and ensure your home health agency never misses a call.
- Appointment Reminders. Reduce the cost of missed appointments and scheduling mistakes with patient and staff reminder calls.
- Home Healthcare Auto Attendant. Extend your staff, elevate patient engagement, and help ensure seamless communications with automated solutions from CMS.
Hospice and Home Healthcare Call Center Services
Our years of experience working with home health care and hospice practices back up each of the services we offer:
- Provider On-Call Scheduling: Our web-based on-call scheduling system ensures uninterrupted on-call coverage for your patients by your nursing staff. This fully customizable system allows real-time updates and changes by you to ensure that we always reach the correct staff member. This efficient system reduces managerial time, overstaffing, and frustration while keeping the connection between your nursing staff and patients seamless and professional.
- Home Health Care Appointment Scheduling and Reminders: A good scheduling and reminder system ensures that your professionals are where they need to be and that patients are ready and available, saving you valuable time and expense. Whether you prefer a fully automated system or a personal touch, CMS will design the right system for you and your patients.
- After-Hours Answering Service and Emergency Call Dispatching: CMS ensures that your agency is available to patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Our professionals are sensitive to the needs of patients and their families and respond with the utmost patience, respect, and attention to protocols designed by you.
The customized CMS hospice emergency answering call plan includes details such as:
- How to gather the types of information that will best inform medical decisions
- When and how to direct the next steps for the caller
- When to dispatch a member of your nursing staff
- Decision trees to cover any contingency
The CMS Difference
When your patients or customers call and reach our HIPAA-compliant home healthcare call center, they always speak with a caring, compassionate, professional operator whose training reflects the patient customer service that matters most to you. CMS highlights:
- 24/7/365 answering services
- Serving over 1,000 healthcare providers nationwide
- Friendly, US-based call center agents
- Over 50 years of healthcare experience
- Fully HIPAA compliant
- Quick, accurate triage and on-call paging
- Auto attendant and IVR solutions
- 100% customizable
Frequently Asked Questions
We are prepared to field every call your agency receives, whether day or night, routine or urgent. Some of the common call types we handle include:
- Calls from the Doctor or Doctor’s office
- Employee – Office Message
- Employee – Out Sick/Late
- Employee – Urgent Question
- Facility Admission
- Facility Discharge
- Lab Results – Critical
- Lab Results – All
- Patient Expired
- Referral – Facility
- Referral – Family Member
- Routine Office Message
- Supplies – Meds – ETC
- Medical Devices – O2 – IV – Pumps – ETC
- Urgent Patient Calls
- Visit – Cancel/Reschedule – Same Day
- Visit – Cancel/Reschedule – Next Day
- Visit – Patient Not At Home
- Visit – Provider No Show
- Visit – Time/Question – Same Day
- Visit – Time/Question – Next Day
- General Intervention
- Admission/Discharge
- Visit Arrangement/Scheduling
- Line/Tube Care
- Medication Inquiry
- Signs & Symptom Control
- Death Report
- Emotional Support
And more! Each type of call you receive can be accounted for in advance, so our agents are equipped with the information and protocols they need to handle every call successfully.
The cost of a home health answering service varies depending on your specific requirements, but at its core, our pricing model is designed to be both affordable and adaptable to your agency’s needs. Our services are priced based on usage, starting as low as $50 a month. This usage-based model ensures that you’re only billed for the actual time our agents spend assisting your callers, making it cost-effective for agencies of all sizes.
For smaller offices or agencies that may only receive a handful of calls monthly, this model offers a budget-friendly solution. On the other hand, larger, multi-location agencies that manage communications for hundreds of patients and caregivers can benefit from our scalable plans that accommodate higher call volumes without compromising service quality.
Additionally, we recognize the unique demands of the home health industry, from coordinating care schedules to handling urgent patient needs. Our pricing takes into account the critical nature of these calls, ensuring that you get premium service without any hidden costs.
To get a detailed breakdown and see our base pricing plans, click here.
Absolutely! Our answering services are fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Ensuring the privacy and security of patient information is of paramount importance to us, and we take every measure to uphold the stringent standards set by HIPAA regulations.
Every one of our agents undergoes rigorous training to ensure they understand the significance of HIPAA regulations and the need to handle personal health information (PHI) with utmost care. This training is not a one-time process; it’s ongoing, ensuring our team is always updated with the latest in privacy and security protocols.
Additionally, our technology infrastructure is built with HIPAA compliance in mind. This means that any patient data transmitted or stored is encrypted and safeguarded against unauthorized access. We also conduct regular audits and assessments to ensure continuous compliance and immediately address any potential vulnerabilities.
With CMS, you can have peace of mind knowing that your patients’ sensitive information is handled with the respect, discretion, and security it deserves.
We use the call forwarding feature to seamlessly manage calls on behalf of your office. This function, offered by most phone service providers, redirects incoming calls from your office line to our answering service. Depending on your preferences, this can be set up in various ways. The standard approach lets you manually activate and deactivate forwarding, transferring calls to our service during specific times like after-hours, weekends, or during peak call periods.
Moreover, for businesses that experience unpredictable call volumes, we offer overflow answering. This utilizes conditional call forwarding, which kicks in under specific circumstances such as when your line is busy or there’s no answer after several rings. It’s an invaluable tool to ensure no call goes unanswered, especially during sudden influxes or staff shortages.
Once the calls reach us, our highly-trained agents handle them following your outlined script and protocols. This ensures every caller experiences the same level of professionalism and care they would receive speaking directly with your office staff.
Our on-call scheduling and dispatching system is designed to be dynamic, intuitive, and highly responsive to your organization’s ever-changing needs. At its core, it operates based on a digital scheduling system that you can manage, ensuring it remains current and fully integrated with our call center operations.
When an urgent call comes in, the system immediately identifies the appropriate on-call contact based on the defined schedule and parameters. Depending on the urgency and nature of the call, our team can initiate a direct response using the preferred contact method specified for that practitioner. This could be a secure text message, a page, or a direct phone call, tailored to the practitioner’s convenience and accessibility.
In situations where our primary contact or method is unsuccessful, we implement a detailed escalation procedure. This ensures that if the first-line contact isn’t reachable, the call gets escalated to the next available contact in the chain, guaranteeing that important calls never go unanswered.
Additionally, the system has built-in flexibility that allows for regular updates or changes. If you need to rotate or change on-call contacts, it can be done efficiently, ensuring the most accurate and up-to-date information is used.
The combination of these processes — from initial call triage to dispatching and potential escalation — ensures timely, efficient, and accurate communication. By prioritizing urgent calls and using a reliable on-call system, we ensure rapid responses, fostering trust and satisfaction among your patients, staff, and other callers.
Sources
- https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/how-companies-can-improve-phone-call-pickup-rates-2021-1
- https://phmg.com/blog/research-reveals-telephone-remains-customers-preferred-method-of-contact/
- https://www.mactech.com/2022/03/03/research-reveals-consumers-and-businesses-prefer-voice-calls-to-text-or-email/
- https://d1eipm3vz40hy0.cloudfront.net/pdf/cxtrends/cx-trends-2020-full-report.pdf
- https://hbr.org/2017/07/your-customers-still-want-to-talk-to-a-human-being
- https://ecommco.com/blog/68-percent-believe-you-dont-care.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/15/fashion/millennials-shy-away-from-voice-mail.html