EHR Customer Support: Why U.S. Based Makes a Difference

We live in an era where nearly every company we interact with has a customer support team available to answer your questions when they come up. Whether it is the grocery chain closes to you, the company that built your computer, or the dealership that sold you your car, there is generally a team designated to handling customer questions, complaints, and concerns. This looks different from company to company though. Many companies started to outsource their customer support overseas to gain a financial edge over their competitors. This saved many companies money when it came time to staff their call centers. People overseas were willing to work for a lower rate. This caused many problems down the line for customers. Between language barriers, hours of operations, understanding of the industry, and solutions to their questions, U.S customers prefer U.S. based customer support.

This is especially true to those in the medical field utilizing sometimes complicated software or services. When it comes to the Electronic Health Record (EHR), providers and their staff often have questions that come up and need to be addressed in a timely fashion. For this reason, it is vitally important that they have access to EHR customer support based in the U.S.

Benefits of U.S. Based EHR Customer Support:

1)    Eliminate Oversea Barriers

One of the most difficult barriers of an overseas EHR customer support is the language barrier. While this does include the basic ability to communicate with the members of your practice, it is more than that. The U.S healthcare system is vastly complicated, and it is important that the members of their EHR customer support be able to understand what your staff is asking and provide a solution as quick as possible. The field is constantly changing, new laws are made, new billing codes are introduced, and not only does your practices EHR have to evolve with those changes, but so does the EHR customer support. If they fail to do so, then your staff may be left without the important answers they need to continue their day. A U.S based customer support provides the solutions you need in a way you can understand and implement.

2)    Quicker Response Times

Another barrier that exists when vendors of EHR software outsource their EHR customer support is the rate at which you get a response. Due to the time difference of overseas support centers, it could be hours before you are able to get the response you need. With a U.S. based EHR customer support, providers can take peace-of-mind in the fact that the vendor’s support staff are near enough to provide a timely response to their important questions. Providers and their staff do not have the time to waste waiting for overseas staff to respond during odd operating hours. Software vendors with U.S. based EHR customer support should operate during normal practice hours.

3)    More Comprehensive Solutions

As mentioned before, it is important that the EHR customer support you are working with has a comprehensive understanding of the American healthcare system as well as the software you are using. But even with U.S based support, the vendor’s staff might need to ask for backup help in order to find you the quickest and most effective solution. When this happens, a U.S. based EHR customer support is often located in the same place as the software’s development team. This ensures that the EHR customer support has the resources they need in order to get your questions answered as quickly as possible. When a vendor outsources their EHR customer support staff overseas, it could take even longer to get the answers you need if you consider the time difference and understanding of the industry.

While it may work in other industries, it is incredibly important that your EHR vendor offers a U.S. based EHR customer support solution to be an effective resource for your practice. To learn more about an EHR vendor that can do this for you, click here.