The Client Challenge
Southcoast Health, a mid-sized health system in New England, realized that the experience patients, care givers, and providers received when interacting with the system did not align with its mission or quality of care. Consumers primarily used the phone to interact with the health system, but its model for managing inbound calls was highly distributed, with more than 36 “call centers” and no standard expectations for performance or service.
CHALLENGES OF THE EXISTING CONTACT MODEL:
- 36 call centers resulted in inconsistent performance and experience
- 105,000+ callers waited longer than leading practice to reach an agent each month
- 34,000+ callers hung up before an agent answered their call each month
Navigating to Next: The Solution
Southcoast Health partnered with The Chartis Group to evaluate existing call functions, technologies, and operations; to develop near-term, quick solutions that could address immediate pain points; and to establish a vision for future consumer experience and access. Through visioning exercises and functional workgroups, Southcoast decided that their new service center would strive to consolidate the 36 existing call centers and serve as the front door and communication hub for all consumers. The service center would provide personalized and frictionless experiences, through which consumers feel welcomed, known, and well cared-for.
With the vision confirmed, Chartis worked with leadership and other stakeholders to develop a roadmap to achieve its vision. The first priority was to transition scheduling and registration from the practices to the new service center, once the foundational elements were in place. Those included a central management structure to support performance, automated scheduling protocols to guide accurate and efficient scheduling, and a change management approach to engage front-line staff and providers in the transformation.
