What the service includes
Our virtual front desk for medical practices answers your phones, books your schedule, completes intake, and routes messages — the way a trained in-house front office would, without the hiring, training, and turnover. This is medical office call answering built around how a practice actually runs: every caller is greeted for your practice, identified by visit type, and handled according to the protocols you set.
Our patient scheduling services follow your templates, block times, and visit types, so new-patient slots, follow-ups, and procedures land where they belong. Intake collects demographics, insurance information, and reason for visit before the appointment, so your staff sees a complete record instead of a sticky note. Urgent messages are flagged and routed to the right person the same day. When coverage, benefits, or referrals need checking before the visit, our eligibility verification team picks up where the front desk leaves off.
How the service runs day to day
You set the hours, the greeting, the scheduling rules, and who gets which messages. Calls can roll over to us during business hours, after hours, or only when your lines are busy. We work inside your own scheduling system under the access you grant, so your team sees every appointment, note, and message in real time.
Missed calls are returned the same day, and confirmations and reminders go out ahead of visits to cut no-shows. If a caller needs a provider who is not available, we offer the next option by your rules rather than taking a vague message and hanging up.
Why practices outsource the front desk
A phone that rings out or dumps callers into voicemail costs visits. Practices add a virtual front desk when the front office is stretched — one person covering check-in, phones, and billing questions can only do one of them well.
The difference shows up in the schedule: fewer empty slots, fewer same-day scrambles, and an intake record that is complete before the patient arrives. Front-desk staff who are already there get to focus on the patients in front of them instead of the phones behind them.
Pricing and getting started
There is no equipment to buy and no software to install — the service runs inside your existing phones and scheduling system. Pricing is quoted after a short assessment of your call volume, coverage hours, and what you want handled; our pricing models page explains how scope affects a quote.
Many practices pair the front desk with our medical billing services so each visit is scheduled, verified, and billed by one connected team. To talk through your call volume and coverage hours, contact us — we reply within one business day.
Virtual Receptionist Services for Medical Practices
Hiring a virtual receptionist for medical practice operations gives your front desk coverage without adding another full-time employee. Fastora’s virtual receptionists answer calls on behalf of your practice, so your in-office team can focus on the patients in front of them instead of a ringing phone.
Every call is answered by a live, HIPAA-trained team member — not an automated menu. Your virtual receptionist greets callers with your practice name, schedules and confirms appointments, takes detailed patient messages, and routes urgent matters to the right person immediately. New patient intake is handled over the phone: collecting demographics, insurance details, and the reason for the visit so your in-office staff receives complete, accurate information.
Appointment scheduling follows your existing rules and preferences. Your receptionist books, reschedules, and cancels appointments directly in your calendar, sends reminders to reduce no-shows, and maintains your waitlist so cancelled slots get filled. Message handling works the same way — detailed, accurate messages are delivered to your team through your preferred channel, with urgent items flagged so nothing time-sensitive sits unnoticed.
Getting started is straightforward. During onboarding, your virtual receptionist learns your practice’s scheduling rules, provider preferences, and how you want different types of calls handled — from new patient inquiries to prescription refill requests to urgent clinical concerns. You decide what gets booked directly, what gets routed to your team, and what gets logged as a message. As your practice grows or your needs change, those instructions are updated so the service always matches how you actually work.
It is worth being clear about what this service is and is not. Fastora runs a virtual front desk, not a call center. Your calls are handled by a small team that knows your practice, your providers, and your scheduling preferences — not a high-volume queue of anonymous agents reading from scripts. The goal is continuity: patients experience the same friendly, informed voice every time they call.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a virtual receptionist cost compared to hiring in-house?
A virtual receptionist typically costs less than a full-time, in-house front desk employee because you are not paying for salary, benefits, payroll taxes, office space, or paid time off. You also avoid the cost of turnover — recruiting, hiring, and training a new receptionist every time one leaves. Pricing is usually based on call volume or a flat monthly plan, so smaller practices can get professional phone coverage without committing to a full-time hire.
Does the virtual receptionist service cover after-hours calls?
Yes. Your virtual receptionist for medical practice coverage can answer calls outside your regular office hours, including evenings and weekends if your practice needs it. After-hours calls are handled according to your instructions — urgent matters are routed to your on-call provider, while routine calls are logged as messages for your team to address the next business day.
How does the service handle messages in our EHR?
Your virtual receptionist documents patient messages accurately and delivers them through your existing workflow. Depending on how your practice operates, messages can be entered directly into your EHR’s messaging module or delivered through a secure channel your team already uses. The key point is that messages arrive complete and correctly routed — with the patient’s information, the reason for the call, and any action needed — so your staff does not have to chase down missing details.
Is the virtual receptionist HIPAA-trained?
Yes. Every team member who handles your calls completes HIPAA training and works under the same privacy and security standards your practice follows. Patient information is handled confidentially, and access to your systems is limited to what is needed to do the job.
What doesn’t the virtual receptionist service do?
A virtual receptionist handles your front desk functions — calls, scheduling, intake, and messages — but does not replace clinical staff or make clinical decisions. The service does not provide medical advice, triage patients clinically, or handle billing disputes that require access to your full revenue cycle records. It is also not a call center: you will not get high-volume outbound dialing, telemarketing, or anonymous agents working from generic scripts.
Can a virtual receptionist work alongside our existing front desk staff?
Yes — many practices use the service as backup and overflow coverage rather than a full replacement. Your virtual receptionist can take calls when your in-office team is busy with patients, cover lunch breaks and time off, or handle all after-hours calls. The setup is flexible, so you can scale coverage up or down as your practice needs change.