Parlance supports the Access Center at Tahoe Forest, providing a centralized access point for patients to get the information they need, simply by speaking. Patients and families now have seamless access to the care they need. And with voice-enabled self-service relieving the burden of routine and erroneous transfers, front desk staff and agents have time to provide better service to patients who need complex, empathetic support.
Improving Patient Experience and Reducing the Burden on Access Center Operations Jake Dorst at Tahoe Forest Health System
When Jake Dorst joined Tahoe Forest Health System as CIO, his new colleagues told him plainly: they were frustrated with their current call system. Every day, countless patients were getting lost in the void of endless, often inaccurate phone trees, and executive assistants were fielding calls that erroneously landed on their lines. The offsite Operator Services team seemed frazzled – overworked and underpaid – with high turnover preventing them from providing reliable service. And above all else, Jake was worried that the complete absence of call volume data was creating a serious blind spot.
“The offsite Operator Services folks would say, ‘Oh, we connected that call.’ Well, if they connected it to the wrong place, that doesn’t help anyone! I needed accuracy and data that they simply couldn’t provide.“– Jake Dorst, Tahoe Forest Health System CIO
Harnessing the power of voice – and data
Seeing that Tahoe Forest was hungry for change, Jake recommended Parlance voice-enabled call routing. He had had success with Parlance at other organizations and knew that the implementation would be seamless and the results invaluable. This would improve self-service, eliminate confusing IVR menus and reduce lengthy hold times for callers. Moreover, with plans on the horizon to build a centralized Access Center to support clinics, registration, scheduling, bill pay, and care navigation, Jake knew they needed a strategic partner that could streamline the patient experience and provide actionable data to inform their planning.
“Having Parlance as a reliable solution was invaluable as we built out the Access Center. We simply wouldn’t have been able to build it with the offsite staff. It’s really been a huge win for us.”
Inspiring patient confidence
With the Parlance-supported Access Center providing a centralized access point for patients to get the information they need simply by speaking, patients now have seamless access to the care they need.
And with voice-enabled self-service relieving the burden of routine and erroneous transfers, front desk staff and agents have time to provide better service to patients who need complex, empathetic support.
The result? Staff and patient satisfaction are soaring at Tahoe Forest – in no small part thanks to Jake advocating for change.
“It was great to have a win like this early on in my tenure at Tahoe Forest. A lot of people welcomed the change to Parlance, and to see it work so well has been really rewarding. When you’re a hospital or healthcare system, patients judge your competence at every level. And if you can’t get your phone right, they’re wondering if you’re going to get their hip replacement right. Parlance has helped maintain patient’s confidence in the care they receive with us.”
