Why Your Medical Business Needs a Spanish Speaking Answering Service
America is known as the melting pot of the world. Citizens from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures find their way to the States for a new life. In many of our neighboring countries, Spanish is primarily spoken, so it’s natural for America’s Spanish-speaking population to rise in number as those citizens move here.
Companies are doing their best to accommodate Spanish speakers, especially within the healthcare industry, but there aren’t always enough people to fluently communicate in multiple languages at the first ring of the phone. That is what makes bilingual medical answering services so important to the healthcare industry.
Eliminate Training Costs
Training a new employee is expensive in the medical industry, because it relies on a workforce that can use precise terminology and adhere to strict protocols to operate. There are many state and federal regulations each employee must be aware of and follow, too. These principles apply at every level of employment, from doctors all the way down to receptionists.
The amount of education and training required for each new employee in the medical field is high enough as it is; adding in the ability to communicate fluently in more than one language is another hurdle for finding the right fit. Setting up a Spanish medical answering service will pay for itself by removing the need for the standard onboarding of new employees. These services only cost a fraction of what it takes to train a new worker, so they’ll cut down on your operational costs.
Access to and for More Patients
The ability to speak Spanish is not just a luxury; it’s a necessity. The number of Spanish residents is projected to rise over the next three years, totaling between 39 and 43 million. Nearly one out of six states have over one million Spanish-speaking residents as part of their population, and those residents (like everyone else) need excellent medical care.
High-concentration areas such as New York, Texas, California, Florida, Colorado, New Jersey, Illinois, and Arizona have more Spanish-speaking persons per capita. For this reason, healthcare companies operating in these areas benefit most from Spanish medical answering services.
Better Communication Means Better Service
It’s easy to take the English language for granted when nearly everyone speaks it in our country. Native Spanish speakers are more common now than they were 10 or 20 years ago, but they’re still a minority, meaning it’s sometimes harder for them to access the right services. It’s much easier for them to feel out of place and get frustrated when they don’t feel noticed or taken into consideration, and important nuances can sometimes be lost in translation. This is a critical issue in healthcare settings.
Giving Spanish speakers the option to communicate in their native language in medical settings is a great way to make them feel more welcome and comfortable. It will also alleviate some of their stress in medical emergencies and get them the treatment they need without any lingual roadblocks.
Providing seamless service to your Spanish-speaking patients will pay for itself in many ways. Your patients will grow to know they can count on you to take care of their medical needs, regardless of whether they speak English or not. AnswerMTI can provide your medical office, clinic, or hospital with point-to-point Spanish answering services to address every manner of call, from appointment setting and general info inquiries to billing issues and more. Our live, bilingual receptionists understand the necessary medical terminology and processes to get the job done right, so you can trust us to take the weight off your shoulders.