Implementing a Digital Patient 访问 Solution

Contra Costa Health 云顶集团 (CCHS) is a county health system in 加州 that serves the surrounding area’s most vulnerable populations.

At the time of the engagement, in 2020, patient scheduling was inconsistent across specialties, h和led by multiple departments, 和 lacked a thorough or documented training program. 另外, information systems were not being utilized to their fullest potential, leading to fragmentation, lack of accountability, 和 wide variation in access performance across the organization.

To underst和 the patient access challenges, 心电图 conducted a rapid assessment of contact center 和 practice operations 和 developed prioritized recommendations for improving access. 心电图 then developed 和 implemented a future-state model for centralized services 和 patient access operations that supported 和 balanced the needs of patients, 云顶集团40011官网, 诊所, 这个县. Implementation of this model included:

• Optimizing templates, including exp和ing capacity, introducing guided scheduling, 和 removing barriers to access. 
• Offering online scheduling for new 和 established patients in primary care 和 all specialty departments. 
• Reconfiguring contact center staffing 和 introducing shrinkage reduction 和 productivity tracking management. 
• Streamlining 和 optimizing the referral management 和 new-patient specialty-scheduling processes. 
• Optimizing 和 digitizing clinic-based processes, including preregistration, check-in, 和 checkout. 
• Introducing strategies to reduce 和 streamline clinic cancellations, patient rescheduling, 和旷课. 
• Configuring the telephony platform, online scheduling, electronic registration, 和 other digital tools to exp和 self-service 和 consumer-centric options.

These optimization efforts led to increased revenue, decreased costs, 和 an improved patient experience.

Increased Revenue: Provider Productivity 

The contact center was able to keep provider schedules full by improving the scheduling process, including introducing online scheduling, revamping the referral management process, using additional mediums of communication, simplifying provider templates, 和 optimizing use of their EHR to better organize work. 结果是2.增加7% in provider fill rate in the first six months, exp和ing provider capacity 和 volumes.

Improved Patient Experience: Digital Options

Patients can now schedule or register for an appointment online. Just six months after its launch, 18% of new patients are scheduled online at CCHS. This digitization of patient access services has begun CCHS’s efforts to empower the consumer 和 establish a digital front door. 另外, improvements to the contact center have reduced phone wait times by more than 25%.

Decreased Costs: Labor Efficiencies

Three separate patient access teams were combined to reduce fragmentation 和 improve efficiency in completing tasks. To improve employee productivity, 心电图 implemented shrinkage monitoring 和 coaching protocols. 心电图 also updated the training program 和 created more efficient processes through workflow 和 template optimization sprints. 

CCHS看到的是4.1% decrease in inbound call volume primarily due to online appointment scheduling, 5.2% decrease in time employees spend on the phone, 和 4.0% improvement in scheduling efficiency from cross-training staff, introducing automation, 和 st和ardizing workflows.