Call Center Planning Process

Carrie "Shellie" Cobbs

Health Care Management

HCS 325

Karissa Stewart

May 05, 2013

Call Center Planning Process

The process in place for answering phone calls at Synergy Orthopedics needs additional

resources to allow better customer service. The call volume has doubled in the year since the

Physicians have started taking more ER, emergency room, call. The hold time for patients

calling to schedule appointments has also increased that is a direct reflection on the office. To

promote better customer service I am proposing the idea of rotating the current staff through a

schedule of solely answering the incoming phone calls. With the $20,000 allocated to Synergy

Orthopedics, I propose that the empty office become equipped with a desk, chair, computer, and

phone to create a single person call center. To complete this change, the staff will have to rely

more on teamwork to allow the office to continue to run efficiently.

Health care teams

Teamwork is not a new process in health care. Since the beginning of organized

health care individual health care providers have had assistance from other providers. The

teamwork model is changing in modern health care to include the staff involved in the

implementation of the decisions of the team. Diverse and synergistic teams are established to

create procedures, accomplish goals, and brainstorm possible outcomes for problems presented

to the team. “One of the biggest benefits of teamwork is synergy—the creation of a whole that is

greater than the sum of its parts. Synergy occurs when teams use their resources to the fullest

and achieve, through collective performance, far more than is otherwise possible” (Lombardi,

Schermerhorn, & Kramer, 2007, p. 76).

Synergy Orthopedics is already an office that works well as a team. The employees are

cross-trained to cover jobs in the office except for takings x-rays. I propose that daily one

employee is stationed in the call center to answer the majority of the incoming calls. One person

alone will not be able to answer all the calls so the entire staff must work as a team to answer the

overflow calls. I believe this will help with messages left by patients whose call has been missed

and hold times because of the volume of calls. With one person responsible for the majority of

the calls coming into the office customer service will improve because the patients will speak

with a person more often than leaving a message.

Teams in other industries

The use of teams is not only a practice used in health care. Teamwork is used in

companies in all industries to get the most ideas and work from employees. Teamwork between

employees and management can produce efficient results for the organization. Blending ideas

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from several employees on a team gives the opportunity to create the best outcome for the

project. If changes need to be made after the implementation of the previous team idea the team

can meet again and re-evaluate to make changes. The employees that have to carry out the

changes are a great sounding board for changes.

Synergy Orthopedics can learn from other companies on how to use teamwork in

different ways. “A team is a small group of people with complementary skills, who work

together to achieve a shared purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its

accomplishment. Teamwork is the process of people working together to accomplish these

goals” (Lombardi, Schermerhorn, & Kramer, 2007, p. 91). Implementing the single person call

center and using the established teamwork is vital to making the organization successful.

Researching companies in other industries for the teamwork structures they use is a good source

of new ideas for Synergy Orthopedics.

Industry lessons applied in health care

Researching companies’ attempts at teamwork can give positive and negative feedback.

Utilizing current technology to learn the successes and mistakes of other companies can be the

beginning step to approaching a team project. Acquiring fresh ideas creates a productive team

environment and stimulates the team members to mold the ideas to fit the existing needs of the

organization. Building a culture of teamwork has been a lesson that industries have capitalized

on. People are taught from a young age to build themselves as individuals. Teaching people to

work in a team environment can be difficult and does not work for some employees. Learning to

work on a team is beneficial to the individual and the organization for the growth and

development gained.

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Organizational process for problem-solving

The organizational process best suited for problem-solving is a matrix structure. The

matrix structure blends functional and divisional structures to get the best outcomes for the

project at hand. “The crossfunctional team members work closely together to share functional

expertise and information to solve problems in a timely manner” (Lombardi et al., 2007, p. 59).

Creating a team that is cross functional will bring a large knowledge base to the problem-solving

table to get the best outcome for the team and the employees that implement the changes.

Synergy Orthopedics embodies the matrix structure in the daily processes already

implemented. Continuing to use the matrix structure will ease the transition into the single

person call center. Creating a strong customer service system benefits the organization and

creates a positive outcome for the future of Synergy Orthopedics.

Conclusion

Synergy Orthopedics has a problem that needs to be addressed and the proposed solution

is a single person, staff maintained call center that will promote customer service and increase

daily office functions. The $20,000 allocated to Synergy Orthopedics will be utilized for the

purchase of furniture, a computer, and a phone because the space is already available in the

office. The staff will be formed into a team to implement the changes and to solve problems

when needed. The office currently functions in a matrix structure and working in this manner

will help with the transition of the call center. Teamwork will make the call center a success.

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References

Lombardi, D. J., Schermerhorn, J. R., & Kramer, B. (2007). 4. In Health care management.

[Adobe Digital Editions].