The Patient Information Centre – Journey from fledgling to flourishing
Second Place Winner
& People ' s Choice Award
The Patient Information Centre – Journey from fledgling to flourishing
Adele Dreadon , Patient Centre Co-ordinator , Chris Bark , Surgical Operational Co-ordinator and Tracey Balsom , Admin Support .
Left to right : Sally Webb , Tracy Balsom , Dorothy McKeown , Adele Dreadon , George Walker , Bronwyn Anstis , Chris Bark , Val Morrison .
Background Patients report that the DHB is difficult to interface with , particularly when wanting to clarify or change appointments . This has resulted in patient discontent , incorrect information being provided and in some cases , cost to the organisation through patients not attending their clinic appointment . Patients indicate that talking to someone when they call and getting an answer to their question are paramount to a good patient experience . Schedulers were also reporting that they were being interrupted constantly by phone calls reducing their efficacy . Conversely some messages from patients were not getting through to them .
Aim The ultimate objective was therefore to : Develop a Customer Services Centre to provide fully customer focussed and efficient interface with patients and visitors to the BOPDHB . We started with a focus on an easy one-point-of-contact for patients with the DHB around appointments .
Methods Using Institute for Healthcare Improvement ( IHI ) methodology to provide project structure , a three month pilot was undertaken in Orthopaedics led by two seconded administrative staff . In consultation with Outpatient clinic staff and Orthopaedic schedulers , PDSA testing was used to develop algorithms to establish a robust process for responding to patient queries . Measures used to show improvement included :
• Number and rate of calls answered – patients wanted to talk directly to someone .
• Voicemail volumes , missed calls – patients wanted to talk directly to someone .
• Reasons for the call – patients wanted answers , so we need to know the type of information they needed .
• Resolution rate i . e . the volume of calls that were not needing to be forwarded to schedulers because the team met the needs of the patient calling – patients wanted answers without being transferred to multiple phones if possible .
79 % rated their experience as 5 out of 5 .
• Up to 50 calls per day that were not directed to schedulers for orthopaedics .
This proved that the service needed to expand and was rebranded as the Patient Information Centre ( PIC ). The vision ongoing was to create a BOPDHB hub that met consumer / customer / patient expectations for service underpinned by systems / processes that enabled provision of excellent customer services . The hub would provide ease of access when you want it , either face to face / phone / email / text , consistency of service each time provided by staff that are well informed and competent .
Conclusion The PIC is now staffed by five staff across Whakatāne and Tauranga Hospitals from 7.30am to 5pm Monday to Friday . An additional eight services ( General Surgery , Paediatrics , Gynaecology , Rheumatology , Podiatry , ENT , Dental , and Physiotherapy ) have been added each having specific algorithms to enable them to manage a significant volume of calls without the need to transfer calls to the service . The Regional Call Centre was amalgamated into the service and patients are now able to have all their questions answered and their appointments confirmed or changed by phoning the 0800 number or emailing the Patient Information Centre . PIC continues to achieve well against our measures :
• 85 - 90 % of calls are answered by a member of the team in person i . e . don ’ t go to voicemail .
• Customer satisfaction is good – both patients and schedulers .
• There are approximately 1500 - 2000 calls per week received by the team , and they resolve approximately 85 % of these meaning that schedulers do not have as frequent interruptions and receive good information about the calls that are transferred through – all of which leads to a better resolution for patients .
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Results The evaluation at the end of the three month pilot showed that :
• 81 % of all calls were answered directly i . e . didn ’ t go to voicemail
• 93 % of patients felt their questions were fully addressed and