Call Center and Their Most Common Problems and Faults

Photo by: Unsplash

Call centers in healthcare play a now very traditional but outdated role in patient communication. While call centers represent a traditional channel of communication between patients and healthcare providers, they often face significant challenges that can lead to dissatisfaction among patients. They are also not the most efficient when it comes to information delivery and appointment scheduling. Call centers have a number of problems and faults that have been around for a long time. Understanding these common problems is essential for improving patient experiences and outcomes. Let’s take a look.

Common Problems in Healthcare Call Centers

Healthcare call centers encounter several issues that hinder effective communication:

• High Call Volumes -

• Long Hold Times -

• Poor First Call Resolution (FCR) -

• Communication Failures -

Statistics reveal that patients who experience negative interactions are over four times more likely to switch providers. Therefore, we can observe the importance of effective communication in retaining patients on these concrete examples.

Impact of Poor Communication

Poor communication has far-reaching consequences other than immediate dissatisfaction among patients. A study conducted on 23,000 medical malpractice lawsuits found that over 7,000 were because of breakdowns in communication. This is mostly at times of critical transitions, such as shift changes among caregivers, in which miscommunication leads to wrong treatments or delays in care.

Furthermore, research has indicated that two negative phone experiences can significantly erode patient loyalty, with many patients considering another provider after only one poor experience. This perfectly illustrates the importance of effective communication with patients.

The Role of NLP AI Virtual Assistants In Improving Communication With Patients

Healthcare organizations are increasingly adopting different innovative solutions to help combat the issues of traditional communication channels such as call centers.  Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI virtual assistants, for example, have proved to be an excellent tool for tackling these challenges. According to a 2023 research shown in the International Journal Of Engineering Research & Technology, the way humans interact and communicate with machines has been revolutionized by NLP Virtual Assistants. These technologies improve communication efficiency and improve patient interactions in several ways:

• 24/7 Availability -

• Simplified Communication -

• Task Automation -

• Personalized Interactions -

Studies show that automating just a portion of calls could yield significant savings—upwards of $43,702 daily for healthcare centers handling large volumes of calls. Additionally, virtual assistants can help mitigate the stress experienced by call center agents due to high call volumes and performance pressures or inadequate training.

It is very important that these common problems are identified and addressed in healthcare call centers. In their running operations, NLP AI virtual assistants have shown that in their operations, healthcare providers can save time spent on communication, improve the level of service delivery, and eventually change the patient experience.

Generally speaking, AI tends to work wonders when integrated into a health system in an effective manner. AI can help with predictive analytics, communication, research, and a lot of other things that can help clinics improve their service output and communication channels. Further advancements in healthcare communications are promising with the continuous improvement in technology.