Consumer-driven focus redefines access role
Consumer-driven focus redefines access role
Take line function, not support, in new world
By Tom Heatherington and Chris Dinnin
Medical Management Solutions Team
Andersen Consulting
Pittsburgh
Organizations increasingly view the patient access process as a strategic and differentiating part of their organization in contrast to the traditional view of access as merely a support function. The new view recognizes the fact that the access process provides the opportunity to differentiate services through telephone contact with members.
Leading health organizations are using the access process to engage these members and form an almost virtual partnership with them in some cases with dramatic improvements in satisfaction and retention. They are able to achieve that for the following reasons:
1. Patients generally do not differentiate medical quality from customer service. The medical industry historically has defined "quality" in terms of clinical error rates and medical outcomes. This definition may not be entirely consistent with the perspective of members and patients, who define quality based upon overall impressions of the medical experience. Although error rates and outcomes are certainly important to patients, they often place equal or greater value on service. In fact, when asked how they define quality, members cannot always differentiate service attributes from medical quality outcomes.
2. The access experience drives much of a patient’s perception of quality. Given how members and patients view service attributes, it’s not surprising that patients’ gauge of quality is driven in large part by their satisfaction with the access process. Considering the improvements in the telephone services afforded to customers in other industries, patients (as consumers) have preconceived expectations regarding telephone service levels and how they should be treated over the phone.
3. Access processes are tangible and therefore relatively easy to market to potential members. Medical services and clinical quality are hard to differentiate. Health organizations therefore have relied heavily on either a strong brand perception of a particular institution’s name or on one or two prominent physicians. Organizations have found that educating consumers about access processes is much easier than educating them about clinical attributes, and some organizations are taking advantage of this difference.
4. ew products and processes that leading organizations feel will provide a strategic advantage rely heavily on the access process. This reliance means that these organizations are changing the access process to meet the requirements of the new products. The value that consumers get from these changes is delivered through the access process rather than through mainline care delivery.
One challenge organizations face as they seek to change the access process is the traditional view of access as a support function similar to finance or purchasing. Access staff have been more "culturally aligned" with these support departments. New products demand "re-thinking" by access staff members as part of the caregiver team a line function rather than a support function.
The access process, however, is well-established, as are the related roles, responsibilities, career tracks, and professional affiliations. In fact, this evolution has led to specialized roles with somewhat narrow responsibilities, often limited to specific functions. Contact with patients is limited to mostly administrative matters.
Changing the access process and the roles or career tracks of access staff is not a trivial undertaking. Access managers must understand that if organizations are to take advantage of new products and processes that leverage off telephone contact with their members and patients, these changes are vital.
A major part of meeting this challenge requires access managers to help lead cultural change in their departments and organiza- tions. This change should involve shifting the organizations’ viewpoint about access depart- ments in a manner that increasingly aligns them with caregivers as opposed to support departments.
Access managers seeking to begin this transition might consider revising the roles and training plans for their staff:
• Expand the responsibility of access personnel, aligning it with patient service goals.
• Consider making access personnel part of a larger "care delivery team," with associated team responsibilities.
• "Partner" personnel with peers in the caregiver area.
• Provide consistent training for member service and satisfaction
• Cross-train among roles within access management
• Include patient service training similar to that provided to patient care technicians.
Remember, though, that the real issue, and the one most difficult to change, is culture how access professionals view their fit within the larger organization. This requires the access manager to identify the defining characteristics of the caregiver (line) culture in their organizations, and how they can encourage these characteristics in their own department.
How do caregiver teams relate to one another? What activities do they lead and participate in? How do they define a team? The access manager’s role here is one of teacher and coach, which requires that the manager "walk the talk."
The result of this redefinition will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. As long as access managers continue to view their role as one of support rather than of critical contact with the customer, they and their departments will continue to act and think like a support function. But those managers who focus on building a new culture and role for the access function will find themselves driving change, not only in the access department but throughout the customer service organization.
While this change will not happen overnight or be easy to implement, it is critical to the success of the organization and will ultimately lead to a more satisfied, consumer-driven workforce.
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