Running a high-performing healthcare organization takes a village. You need teams with different specialties to ensure positive patient outcomes and improve patients’ lives.
Many overlook or ignore non-licensed healthcare staff and only see the value of licensed medical practitioners like doctors and nurses. However, non-licensed healthcare staff are equally vital as their licensed counterparts in improving the patient experience.
So, what are the functions of non-licensed healthcare teams? How do they differ from licensed professionals?
This blog will answer these questions (and more)!
We’ll clarify the role of non-licensed staff in the healthcare industry, provide insight into what sets them apart, and discuss essential tips for managing your healthcare customer support team.
The Key Differences Between Licensed Healthcare Professionals and Non-Licensed Healthcare Support Staff
Licensed healthcare professionals must pass licensure exams and secure the necessary licenses to practice.
These individuals, including physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals, examine and treat patients.
On the other hand, non-licensed staff focus on administrative functions in healthcare and don’t need a license to perform their roles. They include healthcare customer support teams and others who address customer service needs in a healthcare setting.
Here are some critical differences between licensed and non-licensed healthcare staff:
1. Education and Training
To become qualified health professionals (QHPs), people must undergo extensive medical education and training. Licensed healthcare professionals earn their licenses by completing certain medical degrees and certifications.
These licenses may be issued by different authorities and regulatory bodies that determine a medical professional’s capability to provide direct patient care.
For example, a brain surgeon is a medical professional who has acquired a board certification in neurological surgery.
Meanwhile, healthcare customer support and other non-licensed roles don’t require an extensive educational background.
Many employers only require candidates to possess at least a high school diploma; some also prefer candidates with a customer service background. Additionally, a strong background in healthcare is often beneficial for candidates.
Training for healthcare customer support is also different. While not as thorough, customer support staff training is vital to ensuring better service delivery.
Non-licensed healthcare staff training varies depending on a healthcare organization’s needs. Programs often cover customer service, regulatory compliance, and healthcare systems training.
2. Required Skills
Working as a licensed healthcare professional means having excellent clinical skills. To provide direct patient care, you must have expertise in diagnosing and treating patients. Skill requirements for QHPs also include technical expertise.
However, non-licensed roles like healthcare customer support also require a unique skill set.
Non-licensed staff must be able to navigate administrative software and understand medical codes and terminologies. Furthermore, they must be empathetic, detail-oriented, and flexible team players to improve patient outcomes.
Good communication is also vital in customer support. Companies often hire customer support staff with exceptional language skills to make their support services more accessible to patients.
Both roles have similar skill requirements to some extent.
In healthcare, specific soft skills are useful whether you’re doing clinical or administrative work. These skills include emotional intelligence, problem-solving, critical thinking, teamwork, organization, and empathy.
3. Job Responsibilities
Each healthcare role focuses on different areas of the organization. Licensed personnel ensure patients get the best care, while non-licensed staff promote positive patient experiences. Their impact on patient support makes non-licensed staff essential in shaping your business’ success.
A licensed medical staff member’s day-to-day work involves direct patient care involving assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.
QHPs also observe patients during treatment and make adjustments when necessary. They educate patients and offer emotional support throughout treatment.
Meanwhile, non-licensed staff are the administrative arm of healthcare. Their primary goal is to provide high-level customer support to ensure seamless interactions between healthcare providers and patients.
For example, one duty of non-licensed staff is to address patient inquiries about services and set up appointments.
Another critical aspect of their work is managing patient information and schedules. Non-licensed staff members are in charge of ensuring accurate billing and patient records and maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Learn more about our healthcare support services.
Healthcare Customer Support: 5 Best Practices for Ensuring Positive Patient Outcomes
Follow these the five best customer support practices to maximize your non-licensed healthcare staff’s performance:
1. Focus on Patient-Centric Communication.
Patients who receive patient-centric communication trust their doctors and healthcare providers more.
Healthcare customer support teams bridge the gaps between patients and healthcare providers. As a provider, you must train your teams to be flexible and communicate with patients in a way that considers their needs and preferences.
For example, if a patient says they prefer communicating via phone calls, your agents should remember to call this patient and avoid sending e-mails or text messages.
Active listening can also go a long way. Non-licensed healthcare staff should exhibit utmost understanding and empathy throughout the patient’s journey. Customer support teams may not be able to treat patients directly, but that doesn’t mean they can’t lessen a patient’s burden and help them feel better, even only emotionally.
2. Build a Comprehensive Training Program.
There’s minimal room for error in patient support, so your agents must always be ready. Implementing robust training methods should be one of your top priorities.
Include critical learning programs for medical terminologies, regulatory compliance, and soft skills. Training for healthcare customer support isn’t a one-time deal, so ensure you provide constant learning and development to your teams to keep them updated on healthcare trends, policies and procedures, and changes in healthcare regulation.
3. Adopt an Omnichannel Approach.
Having many communication channels will open your healthcare organization to more patients.
Offering patients several options for contacting customer support is always a good idea because one patient may prefer traditional phone calls while another may prefer online messaging or chatting.
Implementing an omnichannel approach lets you address different preferences, increasing their satisfaction and improving patient outcomes.
4. Leverage Technology That Drives Efficiency.
Efficiency-driving tools and technology make a significant difference in your operations.
As a healthcare provider, take advantage of software that enables your teams to provide streamlined, simple support to every customer. You can use automation assistants, data analytics, and self-service features.
Patients don’t want to jump through unnecessary, complicated hoops to contact you or your customer support teams, so they will always welcome any technology that makes their lives easier.
5. Track Your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
One surefire way to drive continuous improvement for your healthcare support teams is to measure progress through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Essential KPIs for healthcare customer support include patient satisfaction scores, first-call resolution percentages, and compliance rates.
These (and other) KPIs will help you identify areas for improvement and allow you to optimize your operations year-round.
A Trusted Partner in Healthcare Customer Support
ClearSource’s customer support solutions have helped our healthcare partners succeed and significantly improve patient outcomes.
We train our teams to deliver healthcare support that addresses even the most complex patient interactions.
Our teams possess the ideal mix of technical expertise and empathy, building teams of skilled professionals who strive to make patients’ lives easier.
Learn more about what makes us the go-to healthcare outsourcing partner. Schedule a call with us today!
