The challenge

A major healthcare provider was preparing to serve as one of the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program Providers for nearby counties once the vaccine was available for general distribution. However, the organizational leaders lacked insight into the degree that call volumes would rise and the number of agents needed to handle a surge in demand. They also lacked the resources to quickly scale a contact center that was already understaffed.

The organization urgently needed a partner with the experience, knowledge, and resources to rapidly stand up a vaccine management program that was adequately staffed with associates ready to answer callers' questions and schedule appointments to receive the vaccine.

Our solution

Our team utilized industry expertise and experience assisting other healthcare organizations and pharmacy retailers to forecast call volume as well as build and deploy a customized vaccine management program for the client.

In three days, our talent acquisition teams quickly recruited and onboarded more than 60 at-home associates from multiple geographies. Soon after, we ramped more than 200 additional associates. We worked with the client to equip our associates with extensive and accessible FAQ materials about the vaccine. From there, associates completed an immersive and focused training course on how to answer questions from callers about the COVID-19 vaccine, where to get it, what to expect, etc., and how to operate the scheduling system.

To be as proactive as possible in distributing the vaccine, we also provided outbound scheduling. The client provided us with contact information for high-risk patients and our associates reached out to the patients to offer them assistance in scheduling first and second doses of the vaccine.

The results

With our help, the client had the resources in place to quickly and efficiently assist eligible individuals in scheduling their COVID-19 vaccine appointments. We ultimately ramped and deployed a vaccine management program with more than 200 associates in two weeks. In six weeks, our associates handled more than 18,000 inbound calls about the vaccine; nearly 22,000 outbound calls, and approximately 3,000 vaccine appointments were scheduled. As the vaccine rollout continues, we continue to provide community members with the information and assistance they need to schedule an appointment quickly and efficiently.