UC Solutions Help Healthcare Providers Better Serve Demanding Customers
August 30, 2016
By Laura Stotler
TMCnet Contributing Editor
The customer service paradigm has been turned on its head over the past few years, as trends like mobility, real-time communications (RTC) and online feedback have given increasing power to consumers. Organizations in all types of vertical markets are looking for new ways to engage their customers and meet their demands in this new age of customer service, and the healthcare field is no exception.
Deloitte (News - Alert) shows that healthcare customers are paying a startling 38 percent more out of pocket these days, forcing them to shop around for their services. The trend has had a noticeable impact on how healthcare is being delivered, and particularly how organizations are engaging with and serving their customers. A recent blog post from ISI Telemanagement Solutions (News - Alert), a company specializing in unified communications (UC) offerings for the healthcare and other markets, discusses what healthcare providers can do to better meet customer demands.
According to ISI, healthcare providers should use three channels for communicating with and serving their customers. These include engagement outreach, discovery and acquisition, care and service and follow-up and retention. UC is an important part of each of these channels, enabling interaction through whatever means the customer prefers and providing valuable insights and historical information about customers.
UC is an ideal fit for the omnichannel customer experience, enabling healthcare providers to interact with their customers wherever they may be, and through their preferred means of communication. This can include phone, email, live chat and more, enabling contact centers to efficiently handle a majority of inquiries and requests. UC aids agents in handling enrollment, scheduling, claims management and pretty much all aspects of customer service. Solutions are easily monitored as well, for measuring productivity, managing queue times and pulling metrics on dropped or abandoned calls.
Calls may also be easily recorded using UC solutions, enabling silent monitoring as well as whisper coaching for agents – critical tools in the specialized healthcare field. Finally, business intelligence may be easily extracted from call reporting and recording to create reports and actionable data for better serving and engaging healthcare customers.
In the new age of customer service, healthcare is easily as competitive as retail, finance and other markets. Healthcare providers need to communicate with and engage their customers in the best and most efficient manner possible, and UC solutions go a long way toward achieving those goals.
Edited by Alicia Young