More than a call centre: Creating a family-centric experience to increase access and revenue

The journey towards centralising any business support function in any organisation is challenging and often marked by turf battles and the inclination to lean towards the status quo. For healthcare organisations, in particular, to move towards centralising any support function is to confront the complexities of a care delivery system. There is sensitivity with every part of the patient’s journey before the patient is seen at their appointment (with referral management, scheduling and financial clearance), to ensure that critical care needed is not delayed. Especially for organisations that have traditionally run a decentralised model with departments operating under their own rules, hearing the word ‘centralisation’ is often not well received and is met with resistance from faculty and staff. This paper provides an overview of one organisation’s journey towards building an efficient, centralised model, in a healthcare organisation managing complex subspecialities, and describes how the COVID-19 pandemic provided a platform to showcase the strength of centralisation, a transition into a remote work environment and a fast track for ambulatory operations to ‘buy-in’ to the centralised model. Although there is still a long road ahead to fully centralise services in the organisation, several successes and strategies (such as establishing dashboards, key performance indicators and a culture of performance accountability) will be shared to help lend ideas and insight to other organisations looking to move towards centralisation. Building a strong foundation that maximises efficiency while remaining resource neutral serves as a win for both the organisation and the patients and families served. Ultimately, the investments made to establish and optimise The Appointment Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has improved referral turnaround time, call abandonment rates, increased access, utilisation and revenue for the organisation.