By Deborah H. Conklin
Our company, Ameridial, has had a great deal of success over the past few years supporting benefit programs for regional health care organizations. The cornerstone of our success is that we have focused on providing a positive telephone experience during each member and provider contact. Our processes are based on the principles behind the Telephone Customer Service component of the Medicare STAR Rating system. Our practices do not apply to Medicare programs only, they also apply to commercial healthcare contact centers.
Following are a few suggestions to ensure your members have a positive customer experience via the telephone:
1. Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
The IVR is the front door to your call center. It is important that the caller is immediately connected to it (3 seconds or less) and that it facilitates prompt access to an agent.
As technology improved over time many organizations became over-reliant on IVR. The more layers that a member has to navigate before reaching a live agent causes caller frustration and results with them either hanging-up and never calling back and/or it reduces satisfaction with their insurance company.
The key to access the member’s file is entry of their ID into the IVR. This must be used properly to shorten the time that it takes an agent to pull up their file and can be used to facilitate HIPAA authentication of the caller.
Key things to consider:
a. Is your IVR accurately routing the caller to the correct department?
b. How often do agents need to transfer callers to correct department?
c. Are your call reports accurate?
2. Promptly answer the call
There is a direct correlation between a customer’s perceptions of an organization and the length of time it takes them to reach a live agent. The longer that it takes for a customer to talk to a live agent lowers the customer’s satisfaction with the organization.
Key things to consider:
a. Are you adequately staffed?
b. Is the wait time programmed into your system too long?
c. Does your IVR have too many layers?
3. Build rapport
The quickest way to build rapport is to use the caller’s name. Take cues directly from the caller. How do they introduce themselves? Listen closely then follow suit. For example, if the caller says this is Mrs. Jones, then use Mrs. Jones to address them. Likewise, if the caller introduces themselves as Sally Jones, then call them Sally.
4. Willingness to help
It’s as easy as telling the member that you are happy to help them after listening to why they are calling. Always take a positive approach and remember to offer additional assistance at the end of the call. Wait for the member to hang-up, don’t have your agent be the first to disconnect.
These are just a few suggestions to aide your healthcare call center in providing an exceptional member experience. When your members feel valued and have had positive customer experiences they will continue to be your members.