How to Create a Communication System That Works for You — And Your Practice

Healthcare is the fastest-growing industry in the United States, employing over 18 million workers, including 938,966 active physicians and 45,000 psychiatrists, 81,000 psychologists, and 198,811 therapists in the mental health field. 

Almost two million patients visit hospitals and clinics daily, expecting high-quality care and efficient and reliable communication. Strong provider-patient communication is essential for creating a positive relationship.

Research has shown that communication can lead to better health outcomes, such as reducing medication errors, reducing hospital readmissions, and increasing patient satisfaction. There’s even https://healthcarecomm.org/about-us/impact-of-communication-in-healthcare/evidence that indicates a strong relationship between a healthcare team member’s communication skills and a patient’s ability to follow medical recommendations, self-manage a chronic medical condition, and adopt preventive health behaviors.

However, not all healthcare providers prioritize communication. Some may not be aware of its benefits, while others may not want to take the time to find the right platform. But, finding the right communication system can have significant benefits for your practice.

Secure and Effective Healthcare Communication in Practice 

Updating outdated communication systems can greatly improve your practice. Benefits include reducing medical errors, improving patient safety, increasing productivity, reducing patient wait times, increasing patient throughput, and significantly cutting costs. Open communication with patients after a medical error occurs can also reduce emotional impacts and minimize patient avoidance of doctors and organizations involved in the error.

If you’re considering transitioning to a communication system that works for your practice, no matter its size, there are a few key features to look for, such as: HIPAA-compliant, secure text messaging; automated on-call functionality; web and machine faxing; expedient call routing; and more.

Take it from Dr. Mark Dombeck, a licensed psychotherapist based in Alameda, California. Like other psychologists, clinicians and behavioral therapists, he knew he needed to ensure he was utilizing a patient engagement platform that provided him with the components he wanted and met the requirements for HIPAA compliance. 

As part of HIPAA, healthcare providers like Dr. Dombeck must implement safeguards to protect patient health information (PHI). However, law enforcement was initially primarily focused on medical communities, so many psychotherapists and their colleagues didn’t immediately emphasize implementing a compliant communications system. 

Dr. Dombeck knew he preferred a health engagement platform that used Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) because of the cost savings, flexibility and mobility it offers. He wanted a solution to help him grow his practice while delivering optimal patient care. After thorough research, he selected RingRx. 

“RingRx checked all the right boxes,” he explained. “Immediately, the service agent knew what I needed regarding HIPAA compliance and the Business Associate Agreement (BAA). I found robust features and an industry-leading HIPAA solution in the same service. The product offers a full range of technology and will serve as a worry-free solution that can extend and connect to new tools down the road.” 

Read more about Dr. Dombeck and his experience with a communications platform customized to fit his unique practice needs. 

A Full Range of Features and Functionality 

RingRx was created to eliminate persistent communication problems experienced by those working in medical offices. How is this achieved? The RingRx platform offers custom, HIPAA-compliant cloud-based phone systems built exclusively for healthcare practices. The goal is to develop easy-to-use tools that help these professionals improve patient care while reducing costs and errors.  

The RingRx phone system can be tailored to meet your specific preferences and requirements. You can even manage all your patient communication from a single app. Popular features include: 

On-Call: Our fully automated answering service allows you to select how and when you want to be reached in real-time. It includes personalized on-call profiles, shift reminder notifications, real-time scheduling updates and more.

Secure text messaging: With this feature, you can send text messages to your patients and colleagues from your smartphone — even sensitive patient information — without using your personal phone number.

Faxing: Send or receive HIPAA-compliant faxes from anywhere using the web, your fax machine — or both. Our contact directory helps make faxing to your regular recipients faster and more reliable.

Call routing: Utilize this feature to screen and route urgent calls to the on-call provider and send non-urgent calls to voicemail boxes or other destinations.

Virtual receptionist: You don’t have to have someone cover front desk duties to avoid missing patient calls. The feature enables you to automatically route calls through your organization based on operating hours or team responsibilities.

Privacy Defender: Eliminate frustration with robocalls, telemarketing and other spam calls. How? We require the caller to enter a two-digit number on their keypad — a test automated calls can’t detect.

API customization: Build your own specialized communication application using our API. This enables you to create specialized call center functions, automate calls for outstanding bills and much more.

Full technology integration: Our communication system easily integrates with existing solutions, including analog hospital room phones, overhead paging systems, nurse call bell systems and more. Plus, you can save time and cut costs by implementing voice, text and fax in one solution. 

Are you interested in maximizing the power of our enterprise software and quality telecommunications? If so, our expert team will help you create an office-wide system that builds on your existing framework. We’ll also configure the perfect communications setup for each team member. Contact us today to learn more about RingRx!