The challenge

A leading healthcare organization that provides medical services and outpatient treatment had rapidly enlarged its footprint after completing several acquisitions. The expansion resulted in a patchwork of technology and processes that undermined the organization’s goal for a unified, patient-centric experience. The communications system was straining to handle the increased volume, and its voice and web systems were outdated. Siloed channels forced patients and employees to jump through numerous hoops and created redundancies for simple tasks, such as scheduling an appointment.

The client needed an experienced partner to develop a digital transformation roadmap and recommendations for creating a centralized contact center with modern infrastructure and optimized channels to deliver an excellent patient experience.

Our solution

In true TTEC fashion, our first step was to understand the client’s vision and goals and assess the current state of the infrastructure and patient experience. We interviewed multiple stakeholders, listened in on calls, conducted site visits, and analyzed voice of the employee and voice of the patient data, among other analytics.

After documenting the existing infrastructure and defining the client’s business needs, we created patient experience journey maps, such as for patient scheduling and post-discharge follow-up. The maps highlighted gaps/opportunities to improve the patient experience as well as best practices to enhance productivity. We also identified opportunities that required IT participation and investment.

From there, we worked closely with stakeholders in prioritizing opportunities by patient experience and productivity impact, provided cost estimates for our recommendations, and designed a plan for a phased approach to achieving the client’s goals. Our recommendations included best practices for reducing call volume and increasing productivity using deflection (interactive call assistant and call typing and routing); augmentation (optimized knowledge base, screen pops, etc.) and efficiency (workforce optimization, advanced operational metrics, and knowledge management).

The results

The client received a detailed diagnosis of the gaps in its contact center and patient experience, recommendations for reducing patient friction and improving employee productivity, an impact analysis of relatively simple versus large-scale improvements, and a roadmap for creating a centralized contact center with the right technology to optimize the patient experience throughout the health system.

Based on our estimates, deflection strategies will reduce call volume by 20% to 30%; augmentation will reduce average handle time 15% to 25%, and increased efficiency will save more than 44,000 hours of labor. The client was greatly appreciative of the consultative guidance that we provided and we are in discussions about the next stage of their digital transformation.