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Healthcare Call Centers

What Message Does your Call Center Send?

Is Saying “Your Call Is Important to Us” Rhetoric or Reality? By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Whenever I call a company, I pay close attention to what happens. You probably do too. I look for specific details that thrill me. I also look for areas that need improvement. And I especially note my overall reaction […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Ideas to Better Retain Call Center Staff

Instead of Hiring New Employees, Seek to Retain Existing Healthcare Call Center Staff By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. With low unemployment rates, the task of finding qualified employees to work in healthcare call centers grows more challenging. This makes it even more important to take steps to retain the employees we have. Here are five […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Will You Help Us Get the Word Out About Medical Call Center News?

Please Tell Your Team, Coworkers, and Colleagues About Medical Call Center News By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Medical Call Center News has a loyal group of subscribers. You appreciate our content and read almost every issue. But our subscriber list also changes a bit from one issue to the next, with a 2.3 percent churn […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Call Center Lessons from a Walk-In Healthcare Clinic

We Need to Be Ready to Learn Whatever We Can, Wherever We Can By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Last week I went to a walk-in healthcare clinic to deal with an itchy skin affliction that was driving me crazy. (It turns out it was poison ivy or some variation thereof.) Not only did I get […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Do You React to Today or Plan for Tomorrow?

How We Handle Each Day Prepares Us for the Next One By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. In the medical answering service and call center industry, there’s always more than enough to do to fill each day. Between staffing issues, client or caller crises, and technical problems there are not enough hours to attend to them […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Rebranding a Medical Call Center

A Brand is Only as Good as the Company and Staff Behind It  By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD A company I do business with just announced a name change. They’re rebranding themselves. Their new name is supposed to better align with their core values, culture, and corporate vision. It’s also intended to dispel some confusion […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

The Work-At-Home Option for Medical Call Centers

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Some healthcare call centers embrace the work-at-home option, while others are categorically against it. Let’s explore the pros and cons of using home-based agents, along with the potential risks of embracing or dismissing this option. Benefits of Home-Based Agents There are two primary reasons to use home-based agents to staff […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Develop an Ideal Agent Schedule to Maximize Call Center Efficiency and Effectiveness

For Optimum Results Schedule Agents to Meet Projected Call Traffic  By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD Call centers rely on people—that is, agents—to meet the needs of callers. This requires developing an ideal agent schedule. Having too many agents results in idle time, with staff on the clock but without enough work to do. This bloats […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Stop Reacting and Take Initiative

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, Ph.D. Though I no longer work in a call center, I remember those days well. There was always something demanding my attention, some urgent matter to attend to. I’d often spend an entire day, sometimes all week, just putting out fires. Charles Hummel called this the “tyranny of the urgent,” where […]

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Healthcare Call Centers

Is Your Call Center a Profit Center or a Cost Center?

Positioning Yourself as a Profit Center Will Help Drive Budget Success  By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD I once heard of a hospital marketing manager who identified their call center as their most cost-effective form of marketing, offering the highest return on investment (ROI). It was a profit center. Further shocking was learning that the entire […]