becker’s 3rd annual revenue cycle and cio/cfo conference · becker’s 3rd annual revenue cycle...
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Becker’s 3rd Annual Revenue Cycle and CIO/CFO Conference
Cheryl Kreider, FACHE
Irene Vergules, MSN,RN
Shannon Hubler, MAOL, RN
Introduction of Panel (contact Information included)
Strategic Plan to Integrate 6 Key Performance Areas
Impact on lost Revenue, Growth, and Transformation of Care
GAP Analysis and KPI’s required for the Senior Leadership
Engagement of both internal and external experts for building SBP, Interim IT Requirements and Costs, ROI
Present 5-year Strategic Business Plan and ROI to CEO/Board
Assign a Senior Leader, PMP Leader, and Team Members to implement plan with weekly updates communicated.
Presentation of Case Studies with Challenges, Results, Implementation, and Technology Utilized
Q & A
Building a Strategic Business Plan for increased Revenue Cycle and Growth!
Let’s start with the future “Strategic Vision” so we don’t duplicate resources!
What do all these areas have in common?
Human Capital, Technology, Integration and
Networking Challenges, at times fragmented
Goals and Communication
Scenario- You are part of large Clinically Integrated System that will be implementing a new EMR (Timeline 2-5 years)
Currently your healthcare enterprise has lost revenue on the Hospital Acute Care, Ambulatory and Physician Network areas
Competitors are capturing more of your volume
Patient, Employee and Physician Satisfaction is decreasing.
Staff Turnover in your individual “Contact Centers” is high.
Staffing Level Needs to Quantified, Enhance Knowledge Base.
Employees + Family have difficulty navigating your system.
ROI on possible solutions is needed
GAP Analysis Required.
1. Employee Insurance costs used at other Healthcare Entities , unless not offered, equals lost volume and increased Employer Benefit Costs.
2. Insurance Verification can fail if the process of scheduling, authorizing, registering ,verifying is not accurate-Increase denials lost revenue.
3. Real-Time Scheduling and monitoring of calls is required to not lose volume. Lost calls need to have “call backs” to not lose the patient or physician office call.
4. Marketing/Communication efforts for outbound calls on new services, preventative services (i.e. breast & colon cancer awareness ,and screening, plus text reminders , e-mails, web chat and Skype.
5. Population Health supports the “Full Continuum of Care”- Case Managers are alerted when a covered life is in another healthcare facility, and investigates the situation. Prepares next POC!
6. Physician Network and Ancillary Scheduling should be integrated and verified daily to ensure the patient does not get lost in another system.
TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO BOOST CALL CENTER PERFORMANCE
Irene Vergules MSN, RN
What do these organizations have in common?
Academic Medical Centers
Multi-Hospital Networks
Community Hospitals
Physician Office Networks
Common Challenges
DRIVING VOLUME
Easy
Seamless
Integrated
Coordinated
Common Challenges
ACHIEVING KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Although the specific indicators may vary from one organization to the
next, there are some common goals:
Customer’s Perspective
Internal Business Perspective
Innovation and Learning
Financial Perspective
Common Challenges ACHIEVE KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
ENSURING EASY ACCESS – MUST MOVE BEYOND JUST CALLS
Integration of multiple channels and key programs
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Adequate Space
Work areas that are bright and quiet
Wallboard displays to make data
easily visible
Adequate and efficient workspace
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Technology
System flexibility is critical
Individualized Agent Displays
Quality Monitoring Capabilities
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Metrics and Reporting:
- Can’t Improve what you don’t measure
Abandonment Rate and Service Levels are critical
Understand your volume
KEYS TO SUCCESS
Staffing Analytics and Productivity Monitoring
CASE STUDY #1
A community based health system with three hospitals and a number
of outpatient clinics faced significant issues with managing their call
volume in their Radiology Scheduling Call Center. Senior
Management received ongoing complaint calls from patients and
referring physicians.
The Challenge:
Assessment
– The reports indicated an abandonment rate that ranged 16-20%
– 25% of call were going directly to voicemail
– Over 100 calls were handled with live messaging
– Average time to answer over 8 min
– Reports available inconsistently and on a daily or weekly schedule
– Staff positions were vacant and took long to fill
CASE STUDY #1
Due to constraints with the telephone system and lack of adequate
reporting tools, live monitoring or recording capabilities a decision
was made to purchase a solution that did not require a capital
investment and that was able to meet our needs within a short
period of time in the most cost effective manner. A 90 day
remediation plan was proposed.
The work flow and all processes were re-evaluated. The immediate
need was to eliminate the voicemails and live messaging despite
poor services levels. The complaints were significant and needed
immediate attention.
Staff training was also provided prior to implementation of new
system and processes.
The Solution:
CASE STUDY #1
Results:
Worked with HR and managers to fill all open positions.
Decreased talk time by implementing Pre-Registration instead of complete Registration at the time of call
New hires and temporary staff trained
Revation system implemented October 15th
October 16 -30, 2015 preliminary data demonstrated:
Decreased abandonment rate to 23% with no voicemails, no live messaging
Average time to answer 2:38 min/sec.
Average talk time of 7:15 min/sec
November 1-30, 2015 data continued to show significant improvement
Abandonment rate: 5% (goal 5% or less)
Average time to answer: 34 sec (goal less than 45 seconds)
Average talk time: 6:38 (goal 5 minutes)
Service Level – 75% (goal 80% or above)
CASE STUDY #1
Data Analysis:
CASE STUDY #1
How are they doing today? Despite typical challenges that all call centers face on a daily basis,
they have been able to not only maintain focus of their metrics,
consistently conduct monthly quality monitoring and also
transitioned new services into the call center that increased call
volume by over 2000 calls monthly
August 2017
Abandonment rate: 5% (goal 5% or less)
Average time to answer: 47 sec (goal less than 45 seconds)
Average talk time: 6:28 (goal 5 minutes)
Service Level – 73% (goal 80% or above)
CASE STUDY #2
A large multi-physician specialty practice with three locations and
scheduling handled in each location. Data was not available
except for sporadic reports with very little detail. Some locations
service levels were significantly lower than others. Complaints
were consistent in one location particularly.
The Challenge:
Assessment
Although utilized ACD technology for call routing there were no valuable reports available for analysis.
Staff were distributed to handle different types of calls (general vs appointment)
Data was inconsistent and could not be validated.
Adequate staffing compliment could not be confirmed.
No cubicles, just desks, no sound proofing, room noisy.
Single monitors on all desks.
No voice recording tools available.
CASE STUDY #2
Results:
Implemented Revation Systems in all locations July 2016.
Migrated two locations to handle the same call types and the plan is to migrate all three locations to handle overflow.
Implemented dual monitors to improve their efficiency
Decreased busy signals within the practice
Changed one position from a full time to two part-time to handle the peak volume.
Developed cross training with other staff in the office (medical records) to cover in the event of call outs.
Began quality monitoring and agent scorecard
Live monitoring of volume and shifting staff as needed to coverage peak volume
CASE STUDY #2
How are they doing today? Despite implementing EMR within the practice and modification to a
number of internal escalation changes and processes they continue
to work towards their goals.
Additional staff was recommended however due to budget
constraints that is still being evaluated.
Need to implement Knowledge base system to assist with
scheduling across the various locations.
Migration of the two call center queues have not yet occurred but
will after the EMR and Knowledge base system implementation is
complete.
June 2017
Abandonment rate: 6% (goal 5% or less)
Average time to answer: 40 sec (goal less than 45 seconds)
Service Level – 78% (goal 80% or above)
CASE STUDY #3
A Health System with three hospital locations and two scheduling
call centers. Both faced challenges with handling call volume and
impacted organizational growth needs. (CHERYL ADD)
The Challenge:
Assessment
Call Center #1 scheduled for 2 hospitals with a call volume 4,000 – 4,500 calls per
month and abandonment rate of 15-20%. In addition 15-20% directly to voicemail or bell.
Schedules approximately 4,000 appointments month
Staffing consisted of 9 FTE’s and one supervisor.
large volume of fax requests from physicians resulting in outbound calls to schedule
these patients.
Intermittent FMLA issues have negatively impacted staffing and phone coverage
Call Center #2 scheduled for a smaller community hospital with a call volume approximately
3,000 calls per month with an average abandonment rate of 23-29%
Staffing was budgeted for 5.5 FTE’s and one supervisor but was consistently
understaffed
Schedules approximately 1,200 appointments monthly
Call Center #2
- Abandonment rate 23-29%
- 3,000 calls monthly
- Lost call volume 750 calls
(25%) monthly
- Lost dollar opportunity
annually – (even if only
10% is actually LOST) is
1,227,600
Call Center #1
- Abandonment rate 15-20%
- 4,000 calls monthly
- Lost call volume is
approximately 700 calls
monthly
- Lost dollar opportunity
annually – (even if only 7%
actually LOST) is
833,280
Financial Info – Based on
Radiology Provided Data:
Hospital A- $286
Hospital B- $210
Average - $248
Hospital C- $341
Combined Average - $279
This includes a blend of the following:
2002.2380 – Diagnostic Radiology
2002.2390 – MRI
2002.2400 – Interventional
2002.2410 – Mammo
2002.2420 – Ultrasound
2002.2430 – Nuclear Med
2002.2440 – CT ScanCOMBINED CONSERVATIVE
ANNUAL LOST REVENUE
2,060,880
CASE STUDY #3
Assessment – Cost of Doing Nothing
CASE STUDY #3
Results:
Built a centralized location to accommodate all staff
New space with proper work surface area and quiet environment.
Dual monitors in workspace and wallboard around call center perimeter
Common area for meetings, trainings and lunch room
Implemented Revations system
Reviewed scheduling protocols across three entities and streamlined processes.
Cross trained staff to handle scheduling for all three hospitals.
Began quality monitoring and agent scorecard
CASE STUDY #3
How are they doing today? All staff have been scheduling for all three locations
Moved a small physician scheduling group into the Call Center with
2 dedicated FTE’s but not yet integrated into the call center.
July 2017
Total FTE’s 11 and 1 team leader
Total Incoming Calls: 6419
Total Outbound Calls: 2462
Abandonment rate: 4% (goal 5% or less)
Average time to answer: 32 sec (goal less than 40 seconds)
Service Level – 81% (goal 80% or above)
North Memorial Health
Improving Revenue Cycle through Text/Chat
To Schedule Patient Communications
Revation Multi Channel Communication Platform
• Single Integrated Solution
• HIPAA/HITRUST Compliant
• Performance Reporting and Compliance Recording
• Encrypted Interactions Without a Software Residual – End to End Recording
• Device Agnostic
Revation
Solution
Suite
Intelligent self-service
(IVR)
Referral
Relationship
Management
Knowledge
Base
Live session
monitoring, call
and screen
recording, QA
Performance
reporting,
analytics and
dashboards
Voice,
web chat,
video,
Co-Browse
emails
Automated
outbound for
feedback,
surveys and
notifications
Mobile Worker
Virtual Visit.com
The Challenge
• 2014: North Memorial Health started the search for a cutting-edge technology to help differentiate from other organizations in the metro area
• As a leading organization in healthcare it became a must to have the ability to communicate with patients in a convenient manner through unified communications
• Vital for the communications solutions to be secure and in compliance with HIPAA regulations
• Growing need for call center agents to quickly and effectively switch from a chat or text conversation to audio in necessary scenarios
The Solution
• June 2015: North Memorial Health began working with Revation Systems
• Implementation of chat/text to schedule platform across all 27 clinics and both hospitals to improve scheduling process and patient-provider communications
• In addition, North Memorial Health also deployed Revation’s Knowledge Base solution
• Instant access to information for call center agents through a robust search function that can be updated by each individual department or clinic
The Results
• Significant improvements in revenue cycle
• Uptick in appointments made and kept -6%
• First month using LinkLive for text/chat to schedule appointments North Memorial Health had 422 inbound chats or texts for appointment scheduling
• 90% resulted in scheduled appointments
• Only 1 case of conversation escalating to audio phone call
• Achieved goal to decrease call volume while increasing number of visits through additional multimedia channels
Knowledge Base
• Searchable• Results display in specific categories such as
clinics, providers, or documents
• Ability for Agents to Flag Errors• If agents find an error, they can click a button at
the top to fill out a short form• The page with the error is noted and placed in a
queue for admin to mark it as archived or rejected – tracking feature
• Compliance Feature• Allows management to track compliance of
procedures and documents by restricting agents to move forward before opening a document and reading through it
Knowledge Base
Please feel free to contact panel members with any questions. Thank You.
As CEO of Kreider Health Solutions, Cheryl Kreider, MBA, FACHE has
over the last 25 years, created and implemented best practices in
healthcare strategy and technology across numerous platforms.
Cheryl holds an MBA degree, and is completing her M.S.O.D degree at
the University of Pennsylvania. She is a nationally recognized Fellow of
the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Most recently, Kreider was the Vice President of Ambulatory Growth for
the Mercy Health System-part of Trinity Health.
Kreider also served as the Chief Operating Officer and Facility
Compliance Officer at Phoenixville Hospital- CHS, and as Associate
Hospital Director for Temple University Hospital, and Temple University
Children's Medical Center.
Cheryl is currently the President of the Perkiomen Valley Chamber of
Commerce in Pennsylvania.
Cheryl Kreider can be reached via LinkedIn for questions or consultations.
Irene Vergules MSN, RN
With over 25 years in the health care sector and extensive experience with a wide range of contact/call center implementations, call center design and operations.
Provide consulting services to large health systems, hospitals, physician practices and other health care environments on variety of call center initiatives including:
- Population Health and Disease Management
- Physician and Ancillary Scheduling
- Marketing and Physician Referral
- Nurse Triage and Navigation
Softech Consulting, President
Email: [email protected]
Cell: 215-630-6287
