The Healthcare Call Center Metrics That Help Improve Care Outcomes

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Your healthcare contact center team needs to have a good “bedside manner.” Inside and outside the exam room, people crave compassion and understanding. And they want any representative of a healthcare provider or payer to communicate with them in an engaging way. When healthcare organizations deliver, they promote a higher level of quality care and increase their bottom line. In fact, Deloitte finds that organizations with a higher percent of positive experiences reported by patients enjoy higher profits – a net margin increase of 161.11% over lower performing hospitals.

But how do you tell if your customers are receiving positive experiences? The following healthcare call center metrics will help you identify ways to improve your care outcomes.

Net romoter

Which customers are going to recommend your business to their peers? It’s an important question for any business to answer. In the healthcare industry, word of mouth is a powerful force. Who hasn’t been asked for recommendations about a doctor, practice, or insurance provider? And when experiences were bad, who hasn’t told others to stay far away from the offending person or organization?

That is why Net Promoter Score (NPS) is such an important metric for healthcare organizations to monitor. The three NPS categories all provide their own insight. Your Promoters convey which strategies are working and which customers to prioritize for customer retention strategies. Your Passives show who is on the cusp and can benefit from immediate action to engage them and elevate their experience. And your Detractors can identify potential targets for customer win back campaigns, regaining their trust and showing your commitment to higher quality care in the future.

First Contact Resolution

People have limited patience when their health and wellbeing are involved. If they need to repeatedly reach out to an organization to answer a question or schedule an appointment, they’re sent a clear but negative message: customer care is not a priority. New customers will take their search elsewhere and existing customers will abandon your organization. For this reason, first contact resolution (FCR) is a strong measurement of the unspoken satisfaction levels and potential attrition of your organization.

If your business is struggling with FCR, there are some lessons to learn. Your contact center agents are likely undertrained. We’ve found that ongoing training, mentoring, and performance evaluations help to prevent these performance issues. Help your agents to not only understand the vocabulary of healthcare but the processes that will result in exceptional experiences. And if those processes are confusing, taking action to rectify them creates greater loyalty and retention in the long run.

Average Abandonment Rate

When a customer drops a call, they leave unsatisfied (and are far more likely to defect to another healthcare organization). Whether it’s a problem caused by understaffing or poor preparation on call resolution, there are actions you can take at the contact center level to remedy the issue.

One is by embracing technology. Most VoIP systems offer virtual queuing options, allowing your customers to get off the phone without losing their place in line. That way, you reduce their frustration listening to your hold music and let them feel like they’re multitasking. When possible, offer your customers self-service options, helping customers help themselves.

Member Attrition

For healthcare payers, there is an acceptable amount of churn. Plenty of conditions exist outside of your direct control (changes in eligibility, changes to employer plans, or updates to a member’s family circumstances). However, it’s important for your business to remain aware of avoidable churn and how your healthcare contact center contributes to the result.

Your contact center agents contribute on both the inbound and the outbound side. The strength of the initial script and the ability of your agents to personalize each incoming interaction makes members feel welcome and results in greater resolution. And by having effective outbound programs in place, you can reach out to members, reminding them of their appointments and delivering greater value-based care that keeps them loyal to your organization.

Want to determine how you can improve your healthcare call center metrics? Request an ROI calculation! We can tell you how your business will benefit from an outsourced contact center.

Thomas Moroney
Thomas P. Moroney has worked in the contact center industry since 1990.He began his career with American Express where he worked his way from Associate to Director of Credit Operations.In 1999, Mr. Moroney joined PRC, LLC, as Director of Client Services.He went on to lead PRC’s international expansion, as SVP Global Services, reporting to Mr. Cardella.Mr. Moroney also worked as EVP Business Development for TRG Global Solutions and more recently as CEO of Donnelly Communications, an Atlanta based boutique contact center provider focused on the retail and catalog industries.

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