Once upon a time, I was in a 6 MD group practice in the Midwest that didn't believe in answering services. Patients had our home phone numbers. We covered our own patients Mon-Thurs, and covered every sixth weekend. Weekend phone calls averaged around 100/day, and I'm not kidding. It was absolutely stupid. Now, I'm solo, pay an answering service $60/mon. and get maybe 3-5 calls a week. (None at all this whole weekend). When I opened my practice, I forgot about how I was going to let my after-hours patients know how to get my answering service, so I ran down to Radio Shack and picked up a $15 machine that tells them the service's phone number. 7 years later I'm afraid to upgrade to voicemail because I don't want to break to MoJo! (If it ain't broke, don't fix it). I'm not anti-tech, heck, I do have an iPhone! Make a personal visit to your answering service and let the owner see your angry face. If they don't wise up, find another service. Do not, repeat, DO NOT! go the home phone number route. (If I can save just one doctor...)
