Ringadoc – Communicate Better With Patients

HIPAA regulations limit the ways that physicians can communicate with patients when they’re outside the office. While these rules act as a safeguard to prevent sensitive data from being breached, they can sometimes become a barrier than prevents physicians from serving the needs of their patients during non-working hours. Ringadoc is a web-based tool that healthcare providers can use to communicate with patients after their offices have closed, without sacrificing doctor/patient confidentiality.

Make it easier for your patients to get in touch with your staff by signing up for a Ringadoc account, recording a few basic prompts, and forwarding your phones to a special Ringadoc number when your office closes for the night. Patients who call during the late night hours can leave a voicemail, and Ringadoc automatically pushes that message to any devices you’ve connected. Within minutes, you’ll receive notifications via text, email, and phone call. You can even get push notifications on your iPhone by downloading the Ringadoc mobile app. Respond to urgent matters right away by clicking the “Call Back” button on the mobile app, or forward a message to your office staff to schedule the patient for an appointment during regular business hours.

If you haven’t reviewed an urgent message within a certain period of time, Ringadoc will follow the protocol you’ve set up by contacting the next provider on your practice’s on-call list. Patients never see their physician’s personal telephone number when they’re connected through the Ringadoc system, and they still have the option to leave a voicemail rather than connecting right away for non-urgent matters. Ringadoc is an incredibly smart answering service for physicians and other healthcare providers.

Practical Uses:

• Save money on answering service fees
• Promptly respond to urgent matters after regular business hours
• Ensure someone from your practice gets urgent messages, even if you’re unavailable
• Forward non-urgent messages to your front desk staff

Insider Tips:

• All calls places on the Ringadoc system are tracked and logged
• Patients see a physician’s office number when their messages are returned through the Ringadoc system
• Download Ringadoc’s iPhone or Android app
• Ringadoc works well for providers who sign out their patients to on-call groups

What we liked:

• Ringadoc is HIPPAA compliant
• Getting set up with Ringadoc takes less than 10 minutes
• Physicians can triage patient calls on their own schedules
• Many patients feel more comfortable leaving messages about their personal matters than talking to a live receptionist

What we didn’t like:

• Nothing

Alternatives:

• One Medical Group – https://www.onemedical.com
• PerfectServe – http://www.perfectserve.com
• TeleMed – http://www.telemedinc.com

Company Info:

• Launched: 2010
• Privately Held
• Headquarters: San Francisco, California
• Founded by: Jordan Michaels and Micah Grossman
• Web site: http://www.ringadoc.com

Costs:

• One month free
• $49 per month, per office for practices with up to four providers