Key Takeaways
Healthcare call centers handle an average of 2,000 calls daily, with peak staffing levels meeting only 60% of required coverage, resulting in a shortfall of 23 agents.
The average hold time in healthcare call centers is 4.4 minutes, significantly exceeding the HFMA’s target hold time of 50 seconds.
Only 1% of healthcare call centers achieve a First Call Resolution (FCR) rate between 80% and 100%, against an industry standard of 70-79%.
Patients experiencing negative phone interactions are four times more likely to switch providers, emphasizing the importance of customer service in patient retention.
A 7% abandonment rate on 2,000 daily calls results in an average of 140 abandoned calls each day, potentially translating to a daily revenue loss of up to $45,000 due to high ASA.
The average annual operating cost of a healthcare call center is $13.9 million, with 43% allocated to labor costs for hiring, training, and benefits.
Healthcare call centers using automation for 34% of calls could achieve daily savings of around $43,702.
Call Volume and Handling Metrics
Multi-practice healthcare centers handle an average of 2,000 calls daily, which breaks down to about 220 calls per hour during standard operating hours.
Typical staffing in healthcare call centers meets only 60% of the necessary coverage during peak times, leaving them 23 agents short of the required number.
To keep the average speed of answer (ASA) under one minute during peak periods, healthcare call centers with 2,000 daily calls need around 57 agents.
In the U.S., the average hold time in healthcare call centers stands at 4.4 minutes, which is notably longer than the HFMA’s target of 50 seconds.
VHA call centers saw a decrease in ASA, dropping from 87 seconds to 69 seconds.
ASA quartiles are as follows: Q1 – up to 34.7 seconds; Q2 – 35.9 to 58.9 seconds; Q3 – 59.0 to 107.6 seconds; and Q4 – 107.7 to 351.3 seconds.
The call abandonment rate (AR) at VHA decreased from 12.0% to 8.3%.
AR quartile cutoffs include Q1 – up to 6.1%; Q2 – 6.1 to 10.2%; Q3 – 10.3 to 16.2%; and Q4 – 16.3 to 29.1%.
Industry leaders recommend excluding calls under 5 seconds from abandonment rate calculations to minimize data interference from accidental hang-ups.
On average, patients make 3.5 calls for each scheduling need they have.
Addressing two scheduling needs within a single call can reduce the overall call volume by two calls.
The average first call resolution (FCR) rate sits at 52%, meaning half of patients make multiple calls to address their issues fully.
Only 1% of respondents achieve an FCR rate between 80% and 100%, compared to the industry standard of 70-79% in healthcare.
Healthcare call centers face transfer rates of up to 19%.
The average handle time (AHT) is 6.6 minutes, which is consistent across call centers of varying agent sizes.
With an average cost of $4.9 per call, a 350-agent center handling 75 calls per agent daily incurs a daily cost of approximately $128,625.
Automating 34% of calls could yield daily savings of around $43,702.
Only 19% of healthcare call centers operate 24/7, while 53% offer near-round-the-clock service (24/5 or extended hours).
A study by Hyro of 300,000 patient calls showed that 11% of calls took place outside regular hours or on weekends.
The top three reasons for calls in healthcare centers are billing and payments (52%), insurance questions (41%), and medication-related queries (34%).
84% of respondents agree that identifying the main reasons for calls is vital, with 49% using manual tracking and 49% using agent surveys to gather this information.
According to a survey of healthcare call center leaders, 93% of call centers are managed internally.
Monthly ASA and AR data for the VHA are recorded, with smaller sites without dedicated call centers using data from larger affiliated facilities.
Customer Service and Patient Satisfaction
In healthcare, a substantial 96% of patient complaints center around issues with customer service.
Over 95% of consumers consider customer service one of the most crucial factors influencing their healthcare provider choice.
More than 65% of patients report their expectations for customer service have risen compared to the previous year.
Surveys reveal that a negative phone experience in a center handling 2,000 daily calls can impact as many as 1,240 patients, with 837 patients potentially delaying their next visit and 725 patients considering a new provider.
Research suggests that two negative phone experiences can significantly harm patient loyalty.
Patients unhappy with their healthcare call center experiences are over four times more likely to switch providers.
Customers facing customer service issues are 400% more likely to take their business elsewhere.
For a healthcare call center managing 2,000 daily calls, a 74% retention rate on poor-performance days means up to 1,480 patient relationships could be at risk.
The First Call Resolution (FCR) benchmark for healthcare call centers is set at 71%, leaving 29% of patient concerns unresolved on the first call.
A single transfer reduces satisfaction ratings by 12%.
It is five times more costly to acquire a new patient than to retain an existing one.
Surveys indicate that 42% of patients identify the difficulty in reaching their provider as the largest barrier to communication.
Approximately 80% of healthcare organizations utilize patient satisfaction surveys, such as HCAHPS and Press Ganey, to measure service quality and satisfaction.
77.8% of patients report “always” or “usually” receiving urgent care when they need it.
Only 36.9% of patients seeking urgent care report being seen within one day.
For routine care, 62.4% of patients say they “always” or “usually” get an appointment as soon as needed.
27.8% of patients report they could “always” or “usually” receive a same-day answer to medical questions when calling during office hours.
Around 66.5% of patients rate their healthcare provider a 9 or 10 out of 10.
No significant link was observed between abandonment rate (AR) and patient satisfaction in the study.
VHA’s ASA showed no significant association with patients’ ratings of their access to routine care, same-day answers, or provider satisfaction.
Healthcare organizations with a focus on patient satisfaction drive over twice the revenue growth of those with lower satisfaction scores in the same field.
Positive customer service experiences prompt approximately 150% more spending than after negative experiences.
69% of respondents with high patient satisfaction levels reported better-than-expected profit margins.
Abandonment Rates and Wait Times
Most patients are unwilling to wait longer than 2 minutes on the phone, with longer wait times increasing frustration and leading to drop-offs.
About two-thirds of patients won’t wait on hold longer than two minutes, with 13% unwilling to wait at all.
At least 60% of patients will abandon calls if they have to wait longer than one minute.
The average hold time for healthcare call centers is approximately 50 seconds.
Healthcare call centers experience an average abandonment rate of nearly 7%.
With a 7% abandonment rate on 2,000 calls, this results in around 140 calls abandoned each day.
For healthcare centers handling 2,000 calls daily, extended hold times could lead to 381 patients hanging up, with about 95 potentially being new patients.
Lost revenue from 225 abandoned calls per day due to high ASA could amount to $45,000 daily or $11.5 million annually in lost revenue from new patients.
CMS evaluates call center performance quarterly for Medicare Advantage, Prescription Drug Plan sponsors, and Medicare/Medicaid insurers; a passing score requires an average hold time of under 2 minutes and an abandonment rate of below 5%.
The VHA, as the largest integrated healthcare system in the U.S., aims for an average speed of answer (ASA) of 30 seconds or less and an abandonment rate (AR) of 5% or less in its call centers.
VHA data indicated improvements in telephone access, showing decreases in both ASA and AR over time.
By the end of the study period, nearly 80% of VHA centers had not met performance targets of a 30-second ASA or a 5% AR.
Regression analysis revealed that patients at VHA centers with an ASA in the highest quartile (107.7 seconds or longer) were less likely to report they could “always” or “usually” access urgent care appointments when needed (odds ratio: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.76–0.95).
Patients in centers with fourth-quartile ASA times (107.7–351.3 seconds) were also less likely to secure same-day urgent care (odds ratio: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.77–0.92).
Approximately 11% of SHEP responses originated from visits to “covered” facilities that rely on a nearby VHA medical center for telephone metrics management.
Staffing and Operational Costs
The average annual operating cost for a healthcare call center is $13.9 million, with $6 million (43%) allocated to labor costs covering hiring, training, and benefits.
Operating with a 23-agent shortfall for eight hours can save a call center around $3,128 per day, adding up to approximately $813,280 in annual savings.
Marketing costs for a three-physician practice to attract new patients average over $32,000 annually.
Only 0.6% of the annual budget is dedicated to technologies aimed at preventing agent burnout and turnover, amounting to an average of $85,000.
22% of respondents reported having no technologies to address burnout and turnover, while 30% invest between $50,000 and $100,000 in these preventative measures.
Staff burnout and turnover were identified as the top sources of inefficiency in call centers by 39% of respondents.
Revenue and Financial Impact
Each new patient generates approximately $200 per physician visit, and with an average of four visits per year, a single new patient can contribute $800 in annual revenue.
The lifetime value of an established patient is estimated at $12,000.
Healthcare practices typically see an annual patient growth rate of 25% with a patient loss rate of around 10%.
For a three-physician practice with a 6,000-patient panel, this translates to a new patient growth potential of approximately $1.2 million annually.
Poor phone experiences in practices with a 74% retention rate could result in financial losses up to $57 million over three years due to patient turnover.
In healthcare, ineffective scheduling and customer service contribute to more than $150 billion in lost revenue every year.
67% of call center leaders anticipated profit growth in 2023, with an average projected gain of 6%.
74% of call center leaders feel pressured to prove that their call centers function as revenue generators rather than cost centers.
67% of call center leaders find it challenging to demonstrate ROI within their organizations.
The primary tools for measuring call center ROI include call tracking software (39%), employee monitoring software (35%), and performance/analytics dashboards (33%).
Technology and Automation
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems are utilized by 84% of respondents, while Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) is used by 82%.
46% of respondents are in the process of evaluating, deploying, or have already implemented LLM-based solutions, such as ChatGPT.
Respondents reported they would be satisfied if AI-powered solutions could automate an average of 34% of inbound calls, although certain AI technologies have the capability to resolve up to 85%.
Industry Standards and Benchmarks
A survey of healthcare call center leadership revealed that 93% of call centers are managed in-house.
The average ASA (Average Speed to Answer) for healthcare call centers is 3 minutes and 22 seconds, notably higher than the general industry standard of 28 seconds.
Best practices recommend excluding calls shorter than 5 seconds from abandonment rate (AR) calculations to help reduce data noise from accidental hang-ups.
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