March 16, 2017
The ROI for a hospital contact center is far better than you may think. Yet, according to Professor Judith B. Stroth of the Florida Institute of Technology, only about two thirds of hospitals staff a contact center in their facilities. That is an astoundingly low number considering the versatility and impact a contact center can have in a healthcare organization. In their most simplistic form, a hospital contact center could be a more modern iteration of a switch board operator. The agent connects callers to the appropriate provider, department, individual, doctor, or patient room. A more advanced contact center can serve a wide variety of uses. They may provide nurse advice lines, promote marketing campaigns for seminars and training courses, or even support business processes by handling billing and collections. All of these services greatly contribute to the ROI of the contact center.
The point is that a contact center is useful to a hospital in many ways, but aside from its direct function, a contact center also has an indirect benefit that may prove the most valuable of all. A contact center improves customer loyalty.
Healthcare Contact Centers and Customer Loyalty
Over four years, a study conducted by R.T. Rust, C. Moorman, and P.R. Dickson measured the effects of customer loyalty in the healthcare industry and how a contact center factors into it. The study was conducted in 25 hospitals across the country and analyzed 1.9 million calls from 807,000 callers. Their findings were quite telling. First and foremost, the study determined that patient satisfaction has a direct relation to customer retention, and the contact center plays a significant role.
- 60% of customers who call in to a hospital are repeat callers
- 20% of all new and repeat hospital customers will use the contact center in a 12-month period
- Repeat callers tend to use more hospital services that one-time callers
- Callers have a much higher retention rate compared to non-callers. A customer that was assisted by the contact center has a retention rate of 70%, while non-callers only had a 46% retention rate
- Previous callers are twice as likely to respond to marketing campaigns
ROI for a Hospital Contact Center
Clearly, there are marked benefits to providing quality customer service with a contact center. However attractive the potential benefits may be, the consequences of not using a contact center are just as stark.
- A customer with an unresolved complaint tells 9-10 people on average
- 13% of customers with unresolved complaints will tell more than 20 people
- For every complaint received, there are on average 26 other displeased customers who do not complain to the business
This is true in any business, healthcare-focused or not. A business of any kind must take great efforts to provide exemplary customer service or risk earning a bad reputation.
ROI and Earning Customer Trust
When there is a negative customer experience, the contact center serves as an excellent tool to make amends and reach a productive resolution to the issue. Approximately 90% of customers who complain will remain patrons of the hospital if their complaint is resolved. This dynamic directly contributes to the overall findings. The study concluded that a contact center yields at least a 3 to 1 ROI and serves as a key driver in hospital revenue and profitability. It all goes back to customer service, and customer service leads to customer loyalty. Customer loyalty then leads to revenue.
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