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Contact Centers and Obamacare

by Chuck Ciarlo, Founder and CEO, Monet Software, Inc. - September 24, 2014

Contact Centers and Obamacare
By Chuck Ciarlo

The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, has introduced dramatic policy changes that will impact consumers, employers, insurance agencies and healthcare providers.

As the rollout continues, thousands of Americans have questions about whether they can keep their current insurance, or if there might be something better available through one of the exchanges. Companies that provide employee coverage must confirm whether they are compliant with the new guidelines, and doctors and hospitals will also have to adjust to this new healthcare paradigm.

But while cable news pundits debate about whether Obamacare is wonderful or disastrous, many of the questions being asked about ACA are being routed into contact centers that serve both patients and providers, while also having to satisfy a high level of compliance and security regulations.

Boon or Bust?

According to one article, between 7,000 and 9,000 new customer service agents were hired just to handle phone and Web chat traffic for the exchanges run by the federal government. Additional contact center agents were hired for the exchanges run by the states. Illinois recruited about 1,200 agents, and one California contact center based its hiring on an estimated influx of 4,000 calls a day.

The new law is has been the biggest boon to the contact center industry in decades, but with that additional attention has come additional scrutiny.

When the initial reviews of how the system is working were reported in the media, the assessments were not all positive. Reports of callers have trouble reaching agents were commonplace, as were instances of dropped call transfers and other miscommunications.

The contact center has been and will continue to be on the front line of ACA information dissemination and signups. That is a heavy burden to place on these businesses, but one that can be managed with the right technology in place.

The Benefits of Workforce Optimization

Dealing with the numerous challenges of ACA is easier with Workforce Optimization (WFO) software.

With WFO, contact centers could more accurately forecast and plan personnel needs by running “What If” scenarios and analyzing the results. Once the level of increased demand has been determined, scheduling becomes more efficient. Productivity and service levels are certain to increase when resources are utilized in an optimal manner.

WFO can also provide assurance to contact center managers (through call monitoring) that all calls are being handled in compliance with federal regulations and policies, which is a critical concern when dealing with a person’s health care history.

The complexities of the new law have been well-documented, and the responsibility of explaining its intricacies falls on the contact center agent. Those contact centers that provided comprehensive training certainly fared well, but given the rush to have enough agents standing by, it was likely that some members of the team would start day one without the requisite knowledge.

WFO can’t deliver training but it can make training easier through the use of scorecards and agent analytics. It can also help managers identify employees that fall short of expectations, and take action to remedy the situation, whether that entails additional training or reassignment.

Care From the Cloud

Public sector and government healthcare agencies are often further challenged with resource constraints. Thus a flexible cloud and SaaS investment model becomes more desirable, as it allows healthcare organizations to effectively manage costs as workforce demand fluctuates.

Those with a cloud delivery model were able to get set up faster, with technology that expedites the learning curve of new agents. Scalability was another asset, particularly as predictions of call volume were not always accurate in some states. The cloud also provides all the requisite security necessary to discuss patient health information.

To the relief of some and the consternation of others, the Affordable Care Act is likely here to stay. For those contact centers that stumbled out of the gate in dealing with the public response, it is never too late to get equipped with the right technology and the best delivery option to provide a better degree of customer service.

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Chuck Ciarlo is the founder and CEO of Monet Software, Inc.

 
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