Every answering service talks about quality assurance, but how many of them do anything about it? Very few it seems. Talking about quality service is one thing, but it’s another to put words into action and pursue service excellence.
Too often call center quality is a haphazard proposition. Some calls are good, while others aren’t so great. And this lack of service consistency is just as frustrating as poor quality. You never know what you’ll get from one call to the next. But leading medical call centers have a more enlightened approach. They put a premium on providing quality, and then they take steps to make sure it happens.
Apology Versus Prevention
At most call centers quality service is an afterthought and not a planned intention. These second-tier operations beef up their customer service staff to deal with client complaints. Instead, they should beef up their quality assurance staff to avoid errors in the first place.
Unfortunately, with all their emphasis on customer service, they don’t have any room to address call quality. Instead of preventing errors, they prefer to apologize for their mistakes. That’s no way to run a call center that promises to offer quality on every call.
Quality Evaluation Protocol
There are three steps to reducing call center errors and providing quality service. It starts with excellent training, supported by proactive supervision. But the third step is what separates leading medical call centers from all others. It’s having a standardized process in place to evaluate call quality for each of its employees.
This quality protocol methodically addresses such hot-button topics as adhering to client instructions, following standard protocol, and providing excellent outcomes. It also looks at politeness, empathy, and professionalism. Other important quality issues include answering calls promptly, recording accurate information, and following up properly.
Full-Time Quality Assurance Staff
Once implemented, quality assurance staff tracks these quality standards to make sure every employee consistently adheres to each element in its quality protocol. Though most call centers don’t have anyone handling these quality assessments at all, others assign a person to handle it as part of their greater overall job. This never works well. This is because their other work takes precedence over conducting quality assessments. And they soon end up neglecting quality evaluations altogether.
That’s why it’s critical to have full-time quality assurance staff. All they do is address medical call center quality. They have no other duties pulling them away from this primary work. That’s the only way for a medical call center to have a viable quality assurance program that produces the excellent results they seek and their clients deserve.
Summary
Call center quality doesn’t happen by accident. Though many call centers prefer to apologize for errors after they occur, instead of trying to prevent them in the first place, discerning medical call centers take a different approach. This enlightened attitude makes all the difference when it comes to serving your callers with excellence.
These leading medical call centers seek to promote quality service among their call center staff. They start with excellent training and then support it through hands-on management. The third element is a well-defined quality assurance process, which is administered by full-time quality assurance staff. When it comes to providing quality service, this is a winning formula that can’t be beaten.
What steps does your call center go through to provide quality service to you and your patients?
Learn how medical answering service from MedConnectUSA can help your practice, clinic, or facility. Then get a free quote to discover how affordable their healthcare communication services are. Peter Lyle DeHaan is a freelance writer and call center authority.