Question
TIMS Audiology Software Version 6 includes a Communications Center. How can I use it to benefit my practice?
Answer
The Communications Center allows you to be able to reach out to your patients and archive all of those interactions in ways that were never before possible in the software. Now, you can create customized mailings to send out either to an individual patient or to a group of patients based upon just about any criteria you can imagine.
For example, maybe you want to send out a letter to all of your current hearing aid patients who have hearing aids that are more than 5 years old (or any age range you specify), and that have been repaired in the last six months. In Version 6, you can generate a list of these patients, create a custom letter to them, and include data about them in the letter. You could refer to the last date you saw them in the office and refer to the service they received (i.e. repair of the left hearing aid). The software will generate that letter, and populate those fields within the letter. Letters can be generated for an individual patient or a group of patients, and printed out with labels, or emailed.
The system allows you to be able to create all those interactions, archive them, with an innovative workflow that makes it very easy for the audiologist. Sometimes, you put together a great marketing piece that reaches a lot of patients who actually book appointments. Then, when the patient comes in, the audiologist asks, “What brings you in today?”. Talk about a disconnect. It can be awkward to say the least, and may not make a great impression. The integrated workflow within TIMS Audiology Version 6 will bring up the marketing piece you sent out, so you can begin discussion with the patient from that point.
In addition, the Communications Center tracks both inbound and outbound phone calls, specifically for marketing purposes. Say you sent out that marketing letter to patients who have older hearing aids with recent repairs. That list can also be used for phone calls to those patients. When you make those outbound calls, you can track the result of each call, and that interaction is also stored in the history.
So whether you’re making a phone call, sending an email, or mailing something to a patient, you can easily track all of those interactions and archive them. Then, they’re immediately accessible to whoever needs it in the office, whether it’s the audiologist, front desk, or billing person.
This Ask the Expert is an excerpt from a full interview on the topic of TIMS Audiology Software Version 6. Read the full interview here. Learn more about TIMS Audiology Software on the TIMS Audiology Software Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
