Education

Reducing Patient Wait Times in Healthcare Call Centers

Healthcare

Healthcare

It is no longer a secret how the pandemic has massively impacted the relationship between healthcare institutions and patients. These days, there is little room for tolerance, especially when you are queuing up to get healthcare assistance.

No matter what the organization is, one thing that is common among enterprises of all sizes is that they all face grief and look to reduce the wait times for the patients in a healthcare call center. But how to do it? How do you even start?

These are some of the common questions that are often asked by healthcare call centers. In this article, we will give you all the answers to it.

Always being prepared

Does your current platform integrate seamlessly with the apps and tools that already exist? If you or the group of employees need the flexibility of working from home, does the app offer you that? If you had to, could you introduce new users to phone lines with just a button click?

Remember, a good platform should do all of these. You should be able to take care of various aspects of your day-to-day tasks straight from the online dashboard.

Customized patient service

One thing that all healthcare call centers prefer now is customized patient services. Clear and prompt communication is the utmost priority. Companies should decrease the wait time and offer precise information to patients. It can be obtained through the utilization of automated systems and well-trained staff.

Tailoring your offerings to meet every patient’s requirements can greatly enhance satisfaction levels. It concerns the understanding of patient preferences and the healthcare history to offer customized support.

Understanding the needs of your patients

If there is one thing that is more important than anything else, it is to understand the requirements of your patients. Irrespective of how much you might be trailing behind the schedule, the patients will appreciate the transparency and the willingness to fix the issue over time. And if you actually want to hold the company accountable for delays, consider offering a gift card to a nearby coffee or pastry shop as a gesture to thank their patience.

Offering a callback option

One of the essential ways to decrease the call hold time is to introduce the option of a callback. Do you know why a lot of people hang up their calls with healthcare call centers? It is due to the fact that they believe they have waited for too long.

If you wish to decrease this, then offer them an option to call back. If this is planned, you may track it. You will also be able to call back at a certain time. It decreases the wait times totally.

Wrapping Up

Certainly, the average handling duration of the call centre is, of course, going to affect the KPIs. For example, hold times is one of the metrics.

The longer the agents are on the phone, the more time it will take them to attend the other calls. Staff members of healthcare call centres need to be more efficient in providing better service to the people.