Call it kismet. Coincidence. Kindred spirits. A healthcare payer and a customer support provider embarked on their own betterment journeys that converged at the same destination: A robust, 100% Work At Home operating model that drove sales and efficiency.

As part of its overarching mission to improve health equity for its millions of members, an integrated healthcare solutions provider sought heightened visibility into performance of all its business partners. At the same time, TTEC executive leadership issued an internal directive of its own to prioritize transparency of performance and day-to-day practices for all healthcare clients.

Fortuitous timing and likemindedness led to a unique glidepath framework for coaching, accountability, and performance improvement. This glidepath proved to be a scalable best practice model for the upcoming annual enrollment period (AEP), when Medicare recipients make coverage elections for the year ahead.

Challenge

TTEC ramped up enrollment support quickly, from 95 FTEs to 539 FTEs (467% increase) in seven weeks’ time to handle peak call volume. However, once the busiest days of enrollment were in the rear-view mirror, contact center call volume remained unusually high: 187,000 calls quarterly. The standard, post-peak staff reductions all healthcare payers undergo were already implemented. With 44% fewer licensed healthcare advocates available to handle steady call volume, it became increasingly difficult to monitor performance quality and consistency.

Work At Home healthcare advocates assisting members with enrollment to Medicare Advantage plans needed customized, targeted coaching to achieve their sales conversion goals.

Our solution

At the start of the new year, TTEC deployed a weekly glidepath performance management framework across all North American healthcare accounts. What had started as an internal coaching exercise for TTEC team leads and managers was opened up to all client stakeholders, who were invited to attend, ask questions, raise concerns, and offer feedback.

Client participation in these sessions was optional but this particular client responded with enthusiasm and jumped in with both feet — never missing a weekly meeting.

“It was kind of a perfect storm,” said a TTEC executive involved with the program. “Our client was trying to find ways to get a little bit closer to its partners when it comes to performance and understanding how they are coaching. And at the same time, we were saying, ‘We think it’d be cool if you guys would come. You don’t have to do anything. You can just watch us go through the process.’ ”

The glidepath process aligned contact center associates and leaders on SMART goals, provided real-time visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs), and enabled targeted coaching for better accountability and performance consistency. SMART goals are defined as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timebound.

For example, the client’s top goal was Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan conversion, which transitioned members from original Medicare to Medicare Advantage (MA). When trend analysis revealed that only a few associates negatively impacted the team’s overall performance, it was those specific individuals — not the entire team — who received customized coaching on MAPD.

Quality and compliance were other top goals along with efficiency, tracked as in-chair occupancy (ICO) rates. ICO was an important productivity metric because it captured how effectively associates utilized their available time and helped to manage labor costs while safeguarding the overall experience for members.

Results

TTEC’s glidepath coaching framework increased MAPD conversions 22% in just three months’ time. Quality and compliance scores rose from 95% to 98%, a 33% improvement, during that same period. In-chair occupancy improved from 81% to 86%, a 64% improvement that reflected reduced idle time and optimized associate utilization.

While average handle time (AHT) was not a top priority for the client, AHT did improve 13%, with the average call dropping from 35 minutes to 31 minutes.

Within a Work At Home model, the weekly glidepath calls enabled multiple team leads and managers to join a single meeting to review metrics collectively, exchange best practices, and maintain motivation around performance objectives.

Inviting clients to the weekly calls not only fostered transparency in how performance was reviewed and coached but also enhanced the partnership between TTEC and the healthcare payer.

“I really wanted everyone to feel how invigorated and excited I was after seeing them grow and couldn’t be happier to be a part of the TTEC family from the start,” said the client’s senior manager who attended the glidepath coaching calls. “This just reinforces all the good things we’ve seen along the way.” 

Next up: Plans for the upcoming year include adoption of TTEC Perform, an AI-enhanced solution that leverages data and insights to create tailored coaching strategies to improve performance and compliance.