“Moving the goalposts” may vibe negative for anyone who felt the rules were changed against their favor, but GE Healthcare and TTEC eagerly embraced the metaphor.

Each time we met and exceeded performance targets, we reset our goals even higher, a commitment to continuous improvement that earned Center of Excellence certification from BenchmarkPortal in 2024 — for the third consecutive year. GE Healthcare and TTEC also were awarded 1st Place, medium size category, in the certification group’s 2024 Top Contact Centers Contest based on outstanding effectiveness and efficiency performance metrics.

The offshore location is distinguished by an extraordinary work ethic and culture, focus on training and development, innovative technology, and performance incentives that are rarely offered to contact center workers. It was no surprise that our healthcare advocates, based in Bacolod, Philippines, known as the “City of Smiles,” naturally adopted our client’s mission: “Improving lives in moments that matter.”

The challenge

Incoming calls for support were often complex and urgent: Healthcare providers and technicians, some of whom were performing diagnostic testing on patients when medical equipment suddenly malfunctioned, needed immediate help troubleshooting. Every second mattered because imaging results from an MRI, for example, determined whether a patient needed surgery.

Customer engagement was good but we knew we could improve. We sought to achieve better performance on first call resolution. Though accuracy was very good, we aimed higher and sought new ways to reduce errors.

The job called for a unique skillset: associates who were versatile, unflappable, and understood the weight of their responsibility. They needed to be proficient handling technically complex, emotionally charged calls while also completing mundane tasks efficiently with high accuracy.

Some clients, particularly those in the U.S. healthcare sector, were reticent about the offshore delivery model, concerned that customers may object.

Our solution

Recognizing that serving customers from an offshore location could be worrisome, we made superior quality top priority. We recruited and trained only the most capable associates who could think fast on their feet. The screening process was rigorous to filter out all but the most exceptional talent, driven to reduce error rates.

TTEC’s investigation into the root cause of errors revealed that navigation could be more intuitive and healthcare advocates needed digital tools to more easily and accurately record case notes. We developed interactive digital “notepads” with standardized templates, enabling associates to easily copy/paste information into the CRM system, improving consistency.

TTEC’s Learning and Performance team created a new curriculum that streamlined new hire training to include multiple lines of business, equipping associates to handle any type of call. The modularized digital curriculum, supported by a robust knowledgebase, was interactive, agile, and designed to accommodate different learning styles. Self-paced learning, on-demand videos, guided demonstrations, scenario-based micro-drills, gamified courses, and RealSkill AI-enhanced role-playing and coaching were part of the mix.

To ensure continuous improvement and retention of the best performers, we developed an incentive program rewarding achievements and compensation above market rates.

The results

Error rates plummeted to 0.03%, and periodically dropped as low as 0.01%. This KPI surpassed by great measure the initial goal of a 0.25% error rate and continued to eclipse the subsequent, more ambitious goal our client set, a 0.18% error rate.

Quality assurance scores soared to 93%, well above the initial goal of 85% and exceeded the subsequent, more aggressive goal of 90% QA.

Average handle time (AHT) progressively improved and each time we hit the target, the goal was raised higher. In the first six months, AHT was reduced by 26%. Having achieved that target KPI, we moved the goalposts for better AHT and achieved a 50% reduction. Not satisfied, we moved the goalposts again to further reduce AHT.

By continually raising our performance standards, TTEC earned the right to take on additional work with GE Healthcare, expanding from an initial four lines of business to 16 LOBs, a 400% increase. This strong partnership and client trust opened the door to explore new types of support services, such as outreach about product recalls, a new area of support with potential for global scope.