A Practice Manager's Checklist for Evaluating an AI Phone Answering Service

• Essential Features for Clinic Efficiency
• Your Step-by-Step Evaluation Process
• FAQs

As a practice manager, you're tasked with finding tools that support your team and enhance patient care, not add to the administrative load. Evaluating a new AI phone answering service can feel overwhelming, with many options claiming to solve call management issues. The key is to focus on solutions that integrate seamlessly, reduce missed opportunities, and uphold the high standards of your clinic.

With medical offices missing an average of 42% of incoming calls and each empty appointment slot costing roughly $200 in revenue, choosing the right partner is crucial for maintaining workflow and patient satisfaction.

Essential Features for Clinic Efficiency

When assessing an AI phone answering service, start by ensuring it addresses the core challenges your clinic faces daily. Look for a solution that acts as a true virtual receptionist, built specifically for healthcare environments.

Key criteria include:

• Seamless PMS Integration: The service should book, reschedule, and cancel appointments directly into your practice management system, such as Cliniko, without double-booking or creating conflicts. This handles the 80% of appointments still scheduled by phone.
• Robust Security and Compliance: Verify bank-level encryption (like 256-bit) and compliance with privacy laws relevant to your region, such as Australia’s Privacy Act (APPs) or GDPR. Patient data security cannot be compromised.
• Intelligent Call Handling: It must answer calls instantly, 24/7, reducing missed calls to zero, while offering smooth human escalation for complex queries. This prevents patient frustration and voicemail backlogs, where 80% of callers never leave a message.
• Customisation for Your Workflow: Choose a service that adapts to your clinic’s tone, FAQs, and scheduling rules. Flexibility for after-hours or peak-time use ensures it supports, rather than disrupts, your team’s routine.

An AI receptionist like Lyngo, built with 💜 for healthcare, is designed with these features in mind, focusing on freeing your allied health assistants to connect with people, not phones.

Your Step-by-Step Evaluation Process

A structured approach helps you assess potential services without overwhelming your staff. Follow this practical checklist to guide your evaluation:

• Define Your Needs: Map your clinic’s peak call times, common queries, and current pain points. For instance, if Mondays see doubled call volumes, note how a service could alleviate that strain.
• Request a Live Demo or Trial: Experience the AI in action, paying attention to how naturally it converses, handles appointment bookings, and escalates calls to humans. A pilot during after-hours or busy periods can test integration smoothly.
• Verify Integration Capabilities: Confirm the service syncs with your existing PMS and other tools. Check for any workflow disruptions by reviewing how it manages patient records and scheduling policies.
• Assess Security Documentation: Ask for details on encryption, data handling, and compliance certifications. Ensure it meets healthcare-specific standards to protect patient information.
• Calculate the Return on Investment: Consider the cost against potential savings. For example, reducing missed calls by 42% could reclaim thousands in revenue, while saving staff hours on routine tasks.

This step-by-step process ensures you select a service that aligns with your clinic’s unique workflow, providing relief without added complexity.

FAQs

Q: How does Lyngo ensure patient queries are handled accurately without errors?
Lyngo is configured with your clinic’s specific FAQs and booking rules, and it will never guess an answer. If a query falls outside its knowledge, it immediately escalates the call to a human team member or takes a detailed message, ensuring patients always receive accurate support.

Q: Can we customise Lyngo to match our clinic’s branding and tone?
Absolutely. Lyngo offers highly customisable workflows, voice options, and FAQ responses to reflect your clinic’s personality and policies. This creates a consistent, professional experience for patients calling in.

Q: What happens if our practice management system isn’t listed in your integrations?
Lyngo integrates with popular systems like Cliniko, and we continually expand our partnerships. If your PMS isn’t currently supported, we encourage you to get in touch, as we may already be developing a solution for your setup.