Call Center Service Agreement and How to Improve It
There are so many factors to consider when monitoring key metrics in your healthcare call center during quality assurance. You want to make sure you answer as many calls as possible and at the fastest rate. The measure of these numbers is what is called service level in a call center. What is it? Why does it matter to your patients? And how can you improve it? Read on.
What Are SLAs in a Call Center?
A healthcare call center service level, otherwise known as the service level agreement (SLA), is a measure of how efficient your call center is. How responsive are the agents to the patients? When they reach out, how quick are they to answer within a given timeframe? It refers to the percentage of calls, messages, social media chats, and emails that are responded to within a time frame, usually as a percentage. For instance, the healthcare call center could have an SLA of 80% answer rate or ensure that the emails are responded to within a day.
Tips to Improve SLA in a Medical Call Center
Physician-patient communication is important in the medical industry. You want to make sure that you respond as fast as possible in case you are dealing with an emergency. Now that you know what an SLA is in a call center, how do you improve it to communicate better with your patients?
Clearly Define Objectives
Having a plan makes a huge difference because when you set an objective, you are clear on the target response times and other aspects, making sure that your patients are satisfied.
Optimize Staffing
In order to achieve high ratings when it comes to SLA, check that there are enough hands on deck. When the workforce is already in place, it is way easier to achieve your set objectives.
Call-Back Services
There are cases like peak times where it may be a challenge to maintain your SLAs. However, when you offer call-back services for your patients, you can find a way to handle high call volumes and maintain their satisfaction.
Encourage Self-Service
Sometimes, even maximizing the workforce doesn’t guarantee a high SLA. Luckily, you can embrace self-service options like IVR and chatbots. This way, you can keep the communication lines open even before the patients reach an actual agent.
Read more: What Does IVR Stand For In a Call Center?
Contact Sequence Health for Professional Medical Call Center Solutions
SLA is one of the most important metrics to measure how effective your response rates are with your patients. To guarantee that they are satisfied, consider reaching out to Sequence Health for assistance with your healthcare call center.