Dr. Downtime Says: “Yes, You Can Go on Vacation.”
Summer’s over, and if you were too busy to take a vacation or let your staff have some time off, you are not alone. The Project Time Off Coalition conducted a study and found that 55% of Americans are not using all of their vacation time. This amounts to 658 million unused vacation days (222 million of which were lost without the possibility of being rolled over, paid out, or banked for any other benefit) and a grand total of a $61.4 billion loss in benefits.
And, it’s just not about the money. New research shows that not taking vacation, especially in the busy and often stressful healthcare industry, increases employee burnout and harms one’s health.
But, it’s not too late! With the right planning, both you and your staff can get some much-needed R&R.
Why Healthcare Professionals Don’t Take Enough Time Off
There are lots of reasons why people often skip their vacation days. According to the Project Time Off study:
● 37% fear returning to a mountain of work
● 30% can’t take a vacation due to not having anyone else to do their jobs (vacation coverage)
● 22% want to show their bosses that they are dedicated
● 19% fear they will be seen as replaceable
The Importance Of Taking Time Off
We get it. It’s not always easy to take a vacation, especially when your patients are counting on you. But, “time off is crucial for reenergizing the mind and body.” And, taking time off “ultimately leads to increased workplace productivity.”
How A Medical Answering Service Can Help
There are so many benefits to having a medical answering service provide out of office reception coverage for your practice. A medical answering service can:
● Cover the phones 24/7 by offering off hours reception vacation coverage
● Help keep your time off uninterrupted (and restful!) by reducing unnecessary calls to your cell
● Ensure that important or emergency calls are routed properly without error
● Reassure patients with a friendly voice that you will be back
● Connect consistently, quickly and correctly to any on call professional via your specific protocols
● Alleviate the pressure of managing the office by providing comprehensive out of office reception coverage
● Remove the possibility of missing important patient calls or new patient inquiries.
“We have been with The Doctors Answer for just over 12 years now. We use them quite often to help us answer calls when we are understaffed. The operators always do a great job sending the urgent calls to the on call and emailing the routine messages to the right department within our office. Thanks for all your help!!”
– Jon S., Office Manager, San Francisco ENT
Why The Doctors Answer
We are a specialized full-service answering service for members of the medical community and pride ourselves for our:
● Best in class service
● Team of highly-trained professionals
● Experience handling nearly four million health care calls a year
● Low price regardless of the size of your office.
Partnering with our medical answering service specialists allows you and your office staff to get a little R&R; we handle your vacation coverage so you can have peace of mind. When you choose The Doctors Answer, calls coming in to the office will never be missed, mishandled, sent to voicemail, or met with long hold-times. Plus, your calls will always be answered courteously and professionally by a live person.
So, take that long-earned vacation! Or, let your staff have some much-needed time off! We promise we will keep things under control for you. Check out our services and learn how you can get a FREE 30-Day Trial for your medical practice.