Mon 30 Apr 2007
Medical Call Centers: your new best friends
Posted by raphael encaoua under preventive care, Medical follow up
Medical call center is perhaps one of the most interesting niches in the call center business as it only represents 3% of the total activities of call centers in Europe and in the US (acc. Euromonitor) yet it is expanding at a very high rate.
The underlying question is dual: is customer satisfaction high with medical call centers and are medical call centers efficient? Some experiments were done to analyse this second point
In July 2006, PHT Corporation, the market-leading provider of electronic patient reported outcome (ePRO) solutions made an experiment in partnership with Temple University School to investigate the potential clinical benefit of using call centers, staffed by pulmonary medical personnel, to support and follow up with Pennsylvania residents suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
A bunch of friends indeed…
COPD is not an isolated chronic pain but a real health issue. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, COPD was responsible for 8 million office visits, 1.5 million emergency room visits, 726,000 hospitalizations, and 119,000 deaths in the year 2000 throughout the United States.
This trial is unique because it is evaluating the impact patient access to a call center may have on reducing hospitalizations and deaths due to COPD exacerbations and on improving patient quality of life, lung function, and everyday activity levels.
The technology used (the LogPad), implemented by PHT on Palm, automatically calculates a graded score from baseline and triggers an on-screen alert telling the patient to contact the call center if certain thresholds are reached. At the same time, a software, PHT StudyWorks allows call center personnel to review real-time reports online, enabling them to prepare for a subject’s call or to identify and contact patients who triggered an alert but chose not to call.
Reactivity is the key benefit of this new kind of medical call center. In fact, many people who have access to a call center at an instant T can feel that the exacerbation they suffer from at this very moment is not the right trigger even though they are in real dire straights. Hence, improving the classification and quantification of symptoms that herald an exacerbation may greatly benefit those who suffer from COPD.
The medical call centers is hence well adapted for chrnoic pains because of its abaility to closely follow up subscribers. Yet, is the medical information delivered satisfactory and/or efficient?
April 30th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
They are lot of medical call center in the world. They are specialized medical assistance during some trips or holidays. Per example in France they are several medical call centers owned by large Insurance Company as Mondial Assistance.
These companies sell some insurance/assistance with call center for different kind of business : to protect house, to give a quick help to aged people… it is a big business.
April 30th, 2007 at 10:46 pm
I have found the comments of Rick Gilman. They are lot of medical call center. At the end, what are all questions about this type of call center.
How to Establish a
Medical Call Center
Key criteria to analyze your needs and build your system.
By Rick Gilman, vice president of healthcare for Ensource, Inc. , Jacksonville, FL.
Many advanced healthcare institutions have established some form of call center to better serve their patients and streamline access to healthcare. However, before undertaking such a project, it is wise to understand what a call center is, and what it will and will not do. It is also wise to understand the hardware, software and peripheral support systems involved. Finally, it is imperative that you establish a clear understanding of what you want this system to do.
A call center is another term for an Automatic Call Distributor or ACD. An ACD is essentially a telecommunications switch that routes calls, either inbound, outbound or both, between a caller and an “agent.” In most cases, with the addition of a software package and additional hardware, the in-house telecommunications switch (PBX) will support a call center as well as route traditional telephone calls.
Streamline With IVR
For general questions, the call center is usually “front-ended” with an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. The IVR prompts a caller to direct his own call route with specific questions or choices. The caller is eventually connected to an agent who can assist him. The IVR helps streamline the process and helps to ensure that the caller is connected with the correct agent, thus saving agent time on incorrectly routed calls.
Nurse triage is a very effective use of call center technology. A patient can call in and speak with a nurse or other healthcare practitioner. The patient might be directed to see a primary care physician, obtain over-the-counter products or be issued a prescription, told to report to the emergency room, or be directed to another healthcare practitioner.
Triage call centers require a careful study of staffing requirements. Since it is not necessary for a trained practitioner to physically sit at an agent station next to other practitioners, the incoming call can be directed by the switch to an appropriate practitioner wherever he or she sits, in another office or even in another building.
Skill-based Routing
Another consideration for staffing is based on skill set. Many call centers use “skill-based routing” to direct a call to an agent (practitioner) who has a prescribed set of skills for answering a patient’s questions. Quite often, nurses who have undergone specific training in handling incoming patient calls will staff a triage call center.
This includes skills on how to quickly assess the patient’s problem, severity of their situation and what course of action is required. The key benefit of having such a triage system is that it will diminish the number of people who automatically go to the emergency room, regardless of their problem.
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Key Questions for
Implementing a Call Center
What is the purpose of the call center? Nurse triage? Physicians’ referral, etc.?
Will the call center be co-located with the hospital’s telephone system?
Will the hospital’s telephone system support an ACD partition?
How much hardware/software is required to expand the telephone system?
What costs are involved with the telecommunications system expansion?
How many agents will be required?
What sort of specialized training will be required?
Will an IVR be used to front-end the ACD?
Will voice mail be used as an adjunct system? At what cost?
What additional training is required of the telecommunications technicians?
What departments will be affected by the call center?
Will the system be inbound only, blended?
Will the system be Web-enabled?
Can the system be implemented with internal personnel, or should the project be outsourced to specialists?
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