Johannesburg, 13 Feb 2002
Avaya Inc, a leading global provider of voice and data networks to businesses, today announced that its customer relationship management solutions have helped The University of Alabama`s Health Services Foundation, PC realise $50 000 in additional revenues each month, using 27% less call centre agent capacity to collect on outstanding patient accounts.
The foundation`s billing and collections call centre, managed by its Managed Service Organisation (MSO), supports over 700 physicians. Approximately 30% of the foundation`s small balance patient accounts cost more to collect than the actual payment. With limited resources available for collection, these balances often were referred to collection agencies.
Using the integration of the Avaya Proactive Contact Management and Avaya Self-Service Solutions, the foundation found an approach to the collection problem that gained additional revenue while freeing resources for other important tasks. With these solutions, the foundation created a virtual payment centre designed to automate outgoing calls to patients via predictive dialling, and immediately provide patients with an avenue for self-payment using interactive voice response.
"The Avaya Customer Relationship Management solution quickly paid for itself, as it helped us maximise the collection centre`s performance at the lowest cost," said Tom McAvoy, associate director of Business Operations, University of Alabama Health Services Foundation. "We are consistently seeing about $50 000 in additional revenue each month by using the integrated Avaya Proactive Contact Management and Self-Service Solutions, in addition to happier customers and better financial performance."
The foundation`s MSO also answers calls from patients about their account status or balance, and the interactions are often time-consuming. The Avaya Self-Service Solution used for the virtual payment centre allowed the call centre to reduce the number of agents needed to handle these types of inquiries by 27%. Now, all incoming calls regarding billing questions are directed to the interactive voice response system first.
"Integrating Avaya Self-Service Solutions with the billing system gives patients the option to quickly, independently and confidentially manage their request," said McAvoy. "More and more callers choose to resolve their issues through self-service, enabling us to make further reductions in staffing requirements."
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