Boston Children's Hospital was founded in 1869 and has consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top hospitals in pediatric care across many different specialties including being number one in heart surgery, neurology and neurosurgery, urology, nephrology and orthopedics. With more than 200 specialized clinical programs, 26,500 surgical procedures, around 25,000 inpatient admissions and 557,000 scheduled visits as well as more than 12,000 staff and volunteers, the facility needs a proven strategy to help it streamline the consumer experience across the board.
In order to make this possible the hospital has selected Accenture, a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company.
The goal for Accenture is to provide the hospital with a business model that will allow it to deliver a faster and easier access to physician appointments as well as a positive experience across all departments for anyone interacting with the organization. Accenture will conduct a three-month evaluation in which it will identify and streamline the different processes the organization uses for billing and recommend solutions that are more effective for customer service and improved revenue cycle efficiency across the physician organization.
“Not just medical, but all of our interactions with patients, their families and referring providers are critical to maintaining the highest standard of care. As a leading pediatric hospital, we are known for our outstanding clinical care, but we are also committed to ensuring that every interaction within our health system is effective, efficient and consistently positive,” said Margaret Coughlin, chief marketing and communications officer of Boston Children’s Hospital.
According to research conducted by Accenture of healthcare facilities, patient satisfaction is high when wait time for physician appointments, complexity of scheduling, number of phone transfers and ability to resolve issues by phone is delivered. Issues related to access becomes a critical point for healthcare facilities in order to maintain and grow market share among the top pediatric hospitals around the country and the world, this according to Dipak Patel, managing director of Accenture’s patient access initiatives.
“Addressing these access-related issues is essential to maintaining and growing market share among the top pediatric hospitals both nationally and globally. Patient satisfaction is critical to successful health outcomes – and satisfaction starts with the first phone call. Patients who perceive gaps in customer service are at a higher risk of not remaining engaged in their care. Increasingly, patients are looking at measures beyond quality of care, such as convenience and value, for selecting their health provider,” said Patel.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi
