7½ Startling Facts About Putting Patients On Hold

How many of your patients are put on hold when they call your practice? According to an AT&T Research Study, the average business puts nearly 70% of callers on hold – and in many of those cases, callers are required to wait in awkward silence.

In healthcare, this can easily lead to frustrated patients and a bad first impression. In an era where patient satisfaction is at an all-time low, such scenarios are too important to ignore. What’s more, silent holds are a missed opportunity for your practice.

Consider these compelling facts:

1. Over 85% of callers prefer on-hold messages over silence. (Cellular Marketing Magazine)

2. 60% of callers who are placed on hold hang up; and 30% of those callers hang up never call back. (AT&T Research Study)

3. 94% of advertising budgets are spent to induce a call; and only 6% are spent to handle the call once it comes in. (AT&T Research Study)

4. Callers with silence on hold will abandon their calls in less than one minute. 90% hang up within forty seconds. (North American Telecom)

5. Callers with music on hold will stay on the line thirty seconds longer than with silence. (North American Telecom)

6. Callers with information on hold will stay on the line for up to three minutes longer. (North American Telecom)

7. A Telemarketing Magazine Survey reports that 1 in 5 respondents made a purchase or a decision based on the information they heard while waiting on hold.

*Furthermore… providing helpful information on hold results in a 15% increase in inquiries and a 12% increase in direct requests for products and services mentioned on hold. (US West Communications Study)

What Your Practice Can Do Right Now

Now consider some of these points for your own practice. Are there products, services or treatment offerings that you would like to spread the word about? Physicians offering EPAT, for example, can serve up a quick, friendly message for callers, highlighting the benefits of this evidence-based, non-invasive treatment and reminding them to inquire about EPAT during their next visit.  

At the end of the day, you work too hard to bring new patients through your door and keep your existing ones happy. Don’t let something as simple as 30 seconds of silence work against you!

To help create meaningful hold messages for your practice, CuraMedix recommends services like Informer Messages On Hold. Would you like more helpful tips delivered to your inbox to help grow your practice and improve patient outcomes? Sign up for our blog today!