AnswerStat Industry News

August/September 2007

New Postal Rates Hits AnswerStat with a 43 Percent Increase

The new USPS rates hit AnswerStat magazine hard, with a 43 percent increase.  To address this, AnswerStat is carefully scrutinizing each copy that is mailed.  Every deserving, qualified person should continue to receive a copy.  However, a diligent quest is underway to identify and remove duplicate and obsolete mailings.

• Let AnswerStat know of extra copies that your organization no longer needs.

• If the address label contains incorrect information, please update it.

• If you are personally receiving multiple copies at different locations, please wean yourself down to one copy and cancel the rest.

• Check your mailing label.  If it says "Please Renew," AnswerStat magazine definitely needs to hear from you if your subscription is to continue.

All these items (subscription renewals, changes, updates, as well as new subscription requests) can be accomplished online at www.answerstat.com/subscribe.

1Call Introduces Automated Appointment Reminder System

Amtelco's 1Call Division announces the new Infinity appointment reminder system, designed for healthcare organizations that are challenged with having patients keep their scheduled appointments.

All healthcare providers know that missed appointments are more than a nuisance.  Missed appointments reduce scheduling capacity, contribute to inefficiency, lower the quality of care, reduce revenue, and negatively affect the working environment for providers and staff.  Tagged "no shows," some studies indicate that as many as 30 percent of all appointments end up with no one showing up or the patient calling to reschedule.

The Infinity appointment reminder system allows patients to "have it their way" when being updated on future appointments.  The system allows providers to customize how and when patients receive notification of upcoming appointments.  Patients can receive messages via fax, email, phone call, SMS text message, or any combination of these methods.  The Infinity appointment reminder system integrates with providers' existing scheduling systems to get the latest scheduled patient appointments that need reminder messages.  Cancelled and rescheduled messages can be sent to patients as well.

For more information on the 1Call appointment reminder, call 800-380-7345, 608-838-4194, or email info@1call.com.

SDC Solutions Signs Altura & Carousel Industries

SDC Solutions, Inc. announced a reseller agreement with Altura Communication Solutions.  Under the agreement, Altura became an Authorized SDC Valued Business Partner, adding SDC's communications solutions to their portfolio of offerings.  In a separate agreement, Carousel Industries became an Authorized SDC Channel Partner, adding SDC's communications solutions to their portfolio of offerings. 

Joseph Roman, Channel Sales Manager for SDC Solutions, stated, "Signing Carousel as a valued member of the SDC Channel Partner Program was a logical choice for SDC.  Our companies' capabilities match excellently.  By partnering, we're able to leverage this synergy in order to provide customers with the most powerful converged communications available."  He added that "SDC chose Altura as a Valued Business Partner to help us expand our reach into new markets as well as Altura's already significant customer base.  SDC's expertise in solution development and research and development, combined with Altura's proven service and solution selling reach, makes it an ideal relationship and promises unmatched customer service."

HealthLine Honors Tenet Healthcare Call Center

HealthLine Systems, Inc. announced that its national contact center Client Advisory Panel has selected Tenet Healthcare Call Center of Tenet Healthcare Corporation as the 2007 recipient of the Client Recognition Award.  This distinction recognizes contribution to a health care organization through the use of HealthLine Systems' contact center software solutions Sharp Focus® and EchoAccess™.   Criteria for selection include:

• Measurable financial impact,

• Interventions clearly related to the software, and

• Applicability for other Healthcare contact centers to raise the standard of practice for the industry.

Previous Client Recognition Award recipients include: Georgetown University Hospital in 2006, Emory Healthcare for 2005, and Sharp Healthcare in 2004, the year of the award's inception.  

The Tenet Healthcare Call Center (Tenet) was challenged to support member hospital marketing initiatives with solid revenue metrics directly attributed to the originating referral.  Their new process allowed them to document over $368 million in directly related service line revenue over the previous two years for Tenet facilities.

For more information, contact RStier@HealthLineSystems.com.

Marlene Grasser Joins LVM

Marlene Grasser, RN, has recently joined LVM Systems as their Regional Sales Director for the West.  Ms. Grasser was previously the manager of Evergreen HealthLine, the medical call center sponsored by Evergreen Healthcare in Kirkland, Washington.  Her experience with the HealthLine began in 1993 as a telephone triage nurse.  Convinced of the tremendous benefit the 24/7 triage service offered her community, Grasser remained at Evergreen for the next 14 years.  During her tenure, she helped shape the quality and strength of the triage service and in 2001 took over the reins as manager. 

In 2004, after a thorough vendor evaluation, her team implemented LVM's E-Centaurus software with Weblink.  With the improved technology and support, the call center expanded from 90,000 calls per year to upwards of 150,000 by the end of 2006.  "We had so many opportunities open up to us once we had software that could handle anything we threw at it," she said.  "LVM's character and commitment attracted me." She adds, "When I decided to look for a career that provided more regular hours, LVM was a very natural fit."

For more information, contact LVM at info@lvmsystems.com or 480-633-8200 x232.

Most Consumers Only Give Hospitals One Chance to Gain Their Business

An analysis of more than 300,000 healthcare calls found that 75 percent of callers who don't get through on the first try will not call back.  A new whitepaper from The Beryl Institute, "It's Not Just a Call, It's a Customer," explores reasons callers hang up before completing the call, lost revenue as a result of those abandoned attempts, and ways to decrease the number of callers who can't get through.

Hospitals have many points at which they can come into contact with consumers and leave a positive impression.  While many have taken measures to improve customer service during face-to-face interactions, phone calls often are not given as high a priority.  The paper delves into the value of reducing the number of callers that don't get through on the first try and demonstrates the impact these callers have on the bottom line.  "There's a misconception that patients are more patient because they're likely calling about something quite personal - their health," said Paul Spiegelman, Executive Director of The Beryl Institute.  "But our analysis shows just the opposite."

Study Shows Contact Centers Lack Focus on Quality

Contact center team leaders spend more than three times as many hours on breaks as they do addressing external quality issues, according to a long-term analysis of some 50 contact centers.  This lack of attention to quality underscores a fundamental problem with how contact centers are managed.  This helps account for why, according to a recent consumer survey, 97 percent of contact center customers are dissatisfied with some aspect of their experience.

"Simply put, contact centers focus on all the wrong issues," said John Sansbury, who headed the analysis and is global director of Compass' service management practice.  "They're typically concerned with reducing call length and idle time per shift, or increasing the number of calls fielded.  These measures are worse than irrelevant - in many cases, enhanced contact center ‘efficiency' can result in a decrease in the quality of customer service."

Other findings show that team leaders spend about half their time observing and coaching agents, and only13 percent taking or placing calls.  "Other" activities accounted for 28 percent of their time.

Compass is a global management consulting firm specializing in business and IT performance.

GeigerBevolo Expands, Hires Two

Healthcare branding firm GeigerBevolo, Inc. hired two staff members: Jackie Ritacco as an account coordinator and Kathy Parker Bruce as a designer.  Jackie Ritacco's primary responsibilities will include managing client relationships, coordinating projects, and supporting new business initiatives.  Ritacco says she's "been aware of GeigerBevolo's reputation as thought leaders in healthcare branding and award-winning creative services for several years.  I've always heard great things about their work and their people, and I'm glad to part of their ongoing success."

Kathy Parker Bruce returns to the GeigerBevolo staff as designer.  She previously held this position from 2001 to 2003, when she left to start a family and work as a freelance designer.  Her breadth of experience allows her to pay attention to details, while approaching clients' brand challenges from a broad business and strategic perspective.  She continues to bring creative concepts through execution, manage multiple projects, and work closely with clients to develop identity systems, advertising campaigns, consumer experiences, print collateral, and more.

For more information, call 612-672-9842 or email chris@geigerbevolo.com.

Andrew Pryor Named VP of HR for Beryl

Andrew Pryor has been selected as The Beryl Companies' new vice president of human resources, effective immediately.  Pryor brings more than 15 years' experience in progressive human resources management.  Throughout his career, he has been proactively involved in change management, organizational design, and employee-focused initiatives.  In his new role, Pryor will be instrumental in the overall strategic development of human resources.  He also will oversee recruitment, retention, benefit administration, policy development and implementation, and ongoing corporate culture activities.

"I am excited about the opportunity to work with a dynamic group of people at Beryl," said Pryor.  "This is a growing company that has created an amazing corporate culture."