‘I’m thrilled’: Patient call answer rate reaches new highs
09/05/24 01:00:pm
Admissions Services is celebrating a notable success in increasing our patient call answer rate, reaching a high of 99% in early August. We started the year at 86% in January.
“Our KPI and industry standard goal is 95%,” says Renee Kiel, Admissions Services executive director. “Our aim is to exceed 95% and to get there, we had challenges to overcome”.
By addressing those challenges, we achieved a 96% answer rate in March and by June we hit 98%. We’ve been able to sustain 98% in both July and August.
“I’m thrilled with our progress and all of the effort and focus to get there,” Renee says. “We worked together within our teams and collaborated with various departments to make the process changes to lead to our successes. I am grateful for the determination. When I talk with staff, they feel more effective with a sense of pride for the accomplishments we’ve made as a team. There’s a lot of positive energy”.
Some of the changes included re-establishing the expedited inpatient admissions process to improve response times for admission acceptance, revamping our staffing model to target high volume call timeframes, shifting recruitment strategies to fill staff vacancies, revising the client screening tool by focusing on critical information-gathering with fewer questions, and combining the two Patient Access department roles into one.
As an appreciation for the department’s teamwork, dedication, and trust, we had a celebration in August. Renee extends a big thank you to the direct staff, admissions leaders, and the various contributing departments.
“This was a huge group effort,” she says. “I could not be prouder of everyone involved.”
