Kyruus Blog

Without question COVID-19 has caused incredible disruption to industries across the board, with the healthcare sector experiencing some of the greatest challenges. At the same time, however, the pandemic has been a catalyst for rapid innovation, revealing opportunities to rethink and transform approaches to care delivery and access. From learning to operate remote call centers to looking for more digitally-enabled ways to engage with patients (e.g., virtual care, virtual assistants), the pandemic has pushed health systems to reimagine—and quickly—their approaches to enabling patient access.

Thanks to developments in technology, many employees and business owners alike have been able to work from home and have been doing so for years. However, for a growing number of Americans, working remotely is no longer a nice workplace perk, but rather the new norm. Now, amid the recent COVID-19 pandemic, most health system access centers and their agents are following suit, raising the question: is this the new normal?

The answer to that question is likely “yes.” Even though working remotely has been a transition for most of us, many of our customers have found that taking their access center operations remote has been incredibly beneficial for both their organizations and their agents. Even post-pandemic, most health systems we engage with have expressed that they plan to keep remote work at least part of their access center operations on a permanent basis. Here are three reasons why taking your access center remote can offer a win-win.

How to read this graph: The boxes represent if a term appeared in the top 10 condition-based search terms for a day within a given week, while the darkness of the color represents the volume of the searches for those terms.*

As of this week, the CDC reported more than 1M confirmed cases of COVID-19 and close to 70K deaths across the United States. Yet, despite these grim figures, data indicates that several states may have reached their peaks, including former hotspot, New York City, where there has been a continued decline in both deaths and hospitalizations due to COVID-19. Meanwhile, other states have already begun the process of reopening their economies. So now the conversation for health systems is starting to shift from simply how to respond to the pandemic to what steps to take to move forward and open up more access for unrelated appointment needs.

Since the COVID-19 virus emerged in the U.S., the country’s health systems and hospitals have felt a significant strain on their resources and staff as they continue to face rising volumes of patients. Amid this chaos, many organizations have risen to the challenge, using technology to expand access and relieve some of the pressure on their limited resources. Here are some of the ways health systems are using technology to expand access to care during the pandemic:

This is the third post in our Call Center Patient Experience Series. Over the course of this three post series, we’ve explored some of the top barriers to patient access through health system call centers and how they impede a positive patient experience: outdated provider directories, limited patient-provider matching capabilities, and lack of visibility into provider availability.

This is the second post in our Call Center Patient Experience Series. Over the course of this three post series, we’ll explore some of the top barriers to patient access through health system call centers and how they impede a positive patient experience: outdated provider directories, lack of patient-provider matching capabilities, and insight into provider availability.

As we explored in an earlier blog, hospitals and health systems are struggling to deliver a great patient experience through their call centers – often the “front door” to their organization – due in large part to barriers to patient access. Over the course of a three post series, we’ll explore some of these top barriers and how they impede a positive patient experience: outdated provider directories, lack of patient-provider matching capabilities, and insight into provider availability.

Provider Directories & Patient Access

While demand for online self-service capabilities continues to rise, many patients still connect with a health system the old-fashioned way – over the phone. However, access centers frequently lack the resources to provide an effective, high-touch patient experience. In fact, our recent secret shopper report found that 82% of call centers were unable to book an appointment directly over the phone during the initial interaction. That’s not just a major barrier to patient access, it also means that most call centers are not equipped to deliver a call center experience that ends with a booked appointment, a big problem for converting demand and retaining patients in increasingly competitive markets.

As health systems pursue strategic initiatives around improving patient experience and expanding access, capturing the right metrics is critical to ensuring their goals are met. Historically, health system access centers have used "call time" data to measure their efficiency and value, attempting to keep patient calls short in order to handle a higher volume of calls. And while this metric may make sense for other consumer industries, a call time KPI is no longer the most important metric to track for health systems. Why? With market competition rising and consumers prioritizing experience, access centers should instead measure how easy it is for a patient to get to the right provider at the right time.

As the first point of contact for many consumers searching for care, your access center and your agents are essential ambassadors of your brand. And in an era where patient loyalty is up for grabs, delivering personalized service over the phone can transform a single call into a lifelong relationship with your health system. On our recent webinar, Dave Kriesand, Vice President of Banner Health’s Customer Experience Center, shared how they’re differentiating their access experience by making it easier for patients to find care that meets their unique needs. 

In recent years, patient experience has transformed from an industry buzzword to a serious initiative for many of the country’s leading health systems. Why? As patients become savvy consumers and their options for care expand, they are prioritizing things like experience and quality of care and are willing to switch organizations to get it. In fact, a new Press Ganey report revealed that patient experience is 5x more effective than marketing tactics at driving patient loyalty.¹