By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD
I don’t want to write about the US presidential elections, but I need to. Here’s why: Because of the election, expect changes in healthcare for 2017 and beyond.
There are two scenarios:
Scenario one will produce a backpedaling of existing laws and regulations as it relates to healthcare, which will spill over to the healthcare contact centers that support the industry. This could range from a complete repeal of the Affordable Healthcare Act, to congressional tweaks that make adjustments, to executive orders that alter the status quo. This all adds up to change. The only variables are the degree and speed of the modifications required. Healthcare contact centers need to prepare for this possibility and be ready to adapt as these transformations occur.
Scenario two (which I think is unlikely) is that no laws are repealed, no new laws are passed, and no executive orders take place that effect healthcare. In this option everything continues as is. However, the current trajectory of this is still change as the existing laws and regulations continue to play out. (An object in motion will continue to stay in motion.) It’s just that in this outcome we have a decent idea of what the adjustments will entail. Healthcare contact centers need to prepare for this possibility and be ready to adapt as these transformations occur.
So scenario one, the likely outcome, will require us to make quick and informed adjustments to how we work in the healthcare contact center industry. Scenario two, the less likely outcome, will also require altering our contact center practices; it’s just that the volatility of change will be less.
In either case, expect the people who contact us to be confused or angry, possibly both. We will need to be ready with answers for them, or at least have the ability to sooth their angst in a time of unknown. Now is the time to prepare for both scenarios.
This coming year, 2017, should be an interesting one for the healthcare contact center industry. Change, it seems, is the new normal.
Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Healthcare Call Center Essentials, available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book.
Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is the publisher and editor-in-chief of AnswerStat and Medical Call Center News covering the healthcare call center industry. Read his latest book, Sticky Customer Service.
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