One of the most frequent processes in healthcare is also one of the most flawed. Millions of calls each year across the network of care involve frustrating technology and wasted labor. Now is the time to lean in and transform this process into one that pleases patients and eliminates waste. Answering the phone and navigating a caller to the right resource is a complex process in a large health system. This complexity may explain why so few organizations do it well. Underperformance has huge cost implications because this process happens millions of times each year across the network of care.

By Sheila Kelly