Enhancing Cardiology Care with a Medical Answering Service

Key Results

2.7secs

Read time for urgent calls

5 mins

Total avg. time per interaction

80%

of routine calls routed efficiently

Key Takeaways

Streamlined nearly 1,000 patient messages in six months, with urgent communications read in just 2.7 seconds on average 

Eliminated lost messages and misdirected calls through a centralized admin inbox system

Protected physician privacy while maintaining seamless patient communication through number masking

Created predictable response times for patients, with routine calls returned before office hours begin

Background

At Cardiology Consultants of Toms River, Clinical Coordinator Stephanie Fusaro oversees communications for a diverse medical practice serving patients across two New Jersey locations. The practice’s five physicians span nine specialty areas, including cardiovascular disease, internal medicine, and interventional cardiology, with one cardiologist handling hospital calls. This complex structure demands precise communication management—a challenge that would ultimately lead Stephanie and her team to seek innovative solutions.

Communication Challenges

For Stephanie, watching communication breakdowns impact patient care had become a daily concern. "Patients were saying they were leaving messages with the service, and no one was getting back to them, but we never received anything," she explained, describing the frustrations with their previous answering service.

The problems extended beyond lost messages. Physicians frequently received non-urgent communications at inconvenient hours and calls meant for other providers when they weren't on call. The system's inability to properly route and prioritize messages was causing unnecessary disruptions to their personal time while compromising patient care.

Even when messages did reach the right physician, the service's mobile app created additional hurdles. Providers had to exit the app to locate essential patient information and callback numbers, leading to delays in response times. These technical limitations, combined with the misrouted messages and an impending cost increase, made it clear to Stephanie and the practice leadership that a change was necessary.

Making the Switch to PerfectServe

After hearing positive feedback from colleagues at another practice, Stephanie and her team explored PerfectServe's medical answering service solution. The platform's comprehensive features and intuitive design offered solutions to their most pressing challenges. Following a demonstration that highlighted its capabilities, the practice moved forward with implementation.

Results and Impact

The transformation in communication efficiency became immediately apparent to Stephanie and her team. Within the first six months, the impact was measurable across several key areas:

Why It Matters

The transition to PerfectServe has transformed communication management at Cardiology Consultants of Toms River. With nearly 1,000 messages handled in six months and urgent messages being read in under three seconds on average, the practice has achieved a new level of efficiency in patient communication.

But what matters most about these improvements is pretty simple: doctors can focus more of their time on patient care, and patients know their calls will always be answered.

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