...telephone answering service is a small item in the total overhead of a medical practice, so in the long run a top quality, premium price answering service would be a bargain. The added cost would be repaid quickly through better relations with patients. Your answering service represents an important part of your public image. It may be the first contact potential patients have with your practice, and it's the one established patients are most likely to have when they face an important (to them) medical emergency...

Robert D. Gillette, MD

Reprinted with permission from the June 1988, Ohio State Medical Journal