Business Plan for Devoted Medics - Research Proposal Example

Company overview Devoted Medics is a privately owned clinic that offers outpatient health care services to the local population of Beverley, England. At Devoted Medics, our mission is to offer affordable outpatient care and promote positive health practices to the people of Beverly. Linked to our mission is our vision to become the leading provider of affordable healthcare in Beverly and the entire country. Considering that ours is an out-patient healthcare organization, it is essential that we have a call center that allows patients to communicate to the hospital staff. In the past year, the center has recorded double the volume of calls recorded last year. Although the numbers indicate a growing customer base, the volume of these calls has seriously strained the clinic due to shortage of staff members at the call center. However, the clinic cannot afford to hire additional staff, thus the only option is to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction by using modern technologies and encouraging teamwork among the clinic’s staff members. Management team As a privately-owned clinic, Devoted Medics is led by a management team comprised of one physician, a nurse and a technical manager. The technical manager is in charge of the call center, where two assistants take customer requests. Currently, the call center still operates on a switchboard operator where the assistants pick the calls and ask the caller whether they are calling about an earlier issue or they are following up on an earlier issue. The assistants then forwards the call to a customer care representative who addresses the callers needs. This process is very cumbersome, considering the number of calls that have to be forwarded as compared to the call center workforce. Accordingly, this calls for a more modern contact center that does not put so much pressure on the workforce, but rather encourages teamwork. According to Mickan & Rodger (2000) teams are essential tools in the management and promotion of change. In this sense, the new contact center will require the collaboration of all the healthcare professionals within the clinic. Products, services, and competitive advantage The primary goal of Devoted Medics and any other clinic for that matter is to deliver quality and coordinated health care to patients. Quoting Mickan & Rodger (2000), “real improvement requires change of the systems in which health care is delivered.” As such, the current call center will be replaced by a contact center which will mostly rely on an integration of Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Advanced Speech Recognition (ASR) platforms as opposed to the current switchboard operations. Statistics from other non-healthcare organizations show that superior communication systems often translate to increased team work and organizational success. Target market The target market for the proposed call routing system is mainly the people from average financial backgrounds who cannot afford high-cost clinics, but are in search of quality healthcare nonetheless. To make this plan successful, the Devoted Medics customer care personnel will communicate the new system to callers who call the clinic using the current switchboard operator. Additionally, patients who come to the clinic will be given detailed information about the new call routing system and how to operate it. This will ensure that customers are given adequate information on how their need will be addressed through the new system. As Strother (2006) writes, it is essential that healthcare organizations ensure customer loyalty, and this can only be possible if communication between the organizations and the customers is enhanced. The modern communication systems have been proven to work in other health care settings. For instance, West Corporation (2013) attests to having used the IVR and ASR platforms to improve the efficiency of a leading health care organization’s call center services. In order for the new call routing system to be successful in our clinic, the managerial team will need to lead the rest of the workforce in learning how to maximize on the use of the new system. Ideally, the IVR and ASR platforms will help solve a lot of time and solve problems that are related. Additionally, team work among members of the clinic’s workforce will be enhanced, considering that professionals from different areas will have to meet often to discuss the various issues raised on the platforms. Financial plan According to West Corporation (2013) the use of the modern call routing system allowed the health care organization to handle additional 30 per cent customer-provider calls in less than 9 months. Additionally, the organization was able to save up to 8 million dollars annually as a result of the reduction in the company’s cost per call to customers. Currently, the clinic has 20 000 dollars part of which will be used to market the new communication platform, and in training the workforce on how to operate the call routing system. Projections for the forthcoming financial year show that Devoted Medics will have saved around 50 000 dollars in terms of per cost calls to customers. Additionally, the customer base is projected to grow by 3 per cent in the same duration, all these without having hired additional staff to cater for the increased call volume. Conclusion The increased volume of calls experienced in the past year has made the management team realize the need for modern technology in enhancing communication with customers. As such, the integration of the IVR and ASR systems of communication into our contact center will improve our customer service, thus attracting more people to our clinic. Additionally, it is expected that teamwork among the different professionals in our workforce will increase, thus leading to better delivery of quality healthcare. Financially, Devoted Medics will benefit financially because of the projected increase in customers, as well as the savings from the per call costs. All the benefits associated with this plan will have a crucial role in helping the clinic live up to its mission and achieve its vision. References Mickan, S. & Rodger, S. (2000). The Organizational Context for Teamwork: Comparing Health Care and Business Literature. Australian Health Review, 23(1): 179-192. Strother, J. (2006). Call Centers in Health Care: Effect on Patient Satisfaction. Retrieved from: www.rose-hulman.edu. West Corporation. (2013). A Leading Health Care Organization: Case Study. Retrieved from: www.west.com/pdf/cs_cc_healthcare_organization.pdf. Read More