Back to all Videos
Automate and Elevate: A Call Center’s Path to Success

Automate and Elevate: A Call Center’s Path to Success

Intermountain Health's Chief Digital & Information Officer, Craig Richardville shares his learnings on successfully automating call center operations using conversational AI while achieving ROI-positive results.

Featuring:

  • Craig Richardville, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Intermountain Health
  • Michael Blumental, Chief Revenue Officer at Hyro

Session Highlights

Intermountain Health, a prominent healthcare organization operating in seven states with a revenue of $16 billion, employs over 70,000 caregivers and serves more than 1.1 million health plan members. They emphasized their transition from traditional call centers to more versatile contact centers through their partnership with Hyro. This evolution aimed to enhance patient experiences and improve operational efficiency.

Revolutionizing Call Centers with Conversational AI

Conversational AI emerged as a pivotal solution to elevate call center operations. Michael introduced the concept of AI assistants as a digital workforce, capable of providing immediate and automated responses to patient inquiries. Traditional conversational AI models relied on predefined intents, which could lead to subpar experiences and limited scalability. The adaptive communication approach presented by Hyro addressed these limitations by leveraging computational linguistics and a knowledge-based approach. This allowed for more context-aware and effective responses, significantly enhancing the patient experience.

Overcoming Operational Challenges at Intermountain Health

Craig and Michael delved into the challenges faced by Intermountain Health, emphasizing the organization’s reliance on phone calls as the primary mode of communication. They acknowledged long wait times and the need for a shift towards self-service options.

 

Intermountain Health had undergone mergers and acquisitions, resulting in diverse operations and technology platforms. To address these challenges, the organization sought to draw inspiration from consumer experiences in industries like airlines, grocery, and retail. Both Michael and Craig agreed and emphasized the need to develop a standardized tech stack, evaluate partners, and centralize resources for a more cohesive approach.

Seamless Integration for Call Center AI

The session explored the seamless integration of Hyro’s solution within Intermountain’s operations. The speakers explained how the system seamlessly integrated with Intermountain’s website, mobile app, and call center. The AI replaced traditional call trees with open-ended conversations, leading to more engaging and efficient interactions. Notably, the AI demonstrated the ability to identify patients, create Salesforce records, and handle interactions through chat or calls. In instances where agent assistance was required, the AI ensured a seamless transition, providing the agent with full context to improve efficiency (see “agent handover“).

Illustrating the Impact: User Journey with AI

A compelling demonstration showcased a patient’s journey, starting with a website visit to find a new primary care doctor. The AI assisted in the physician search, providing relevant doctor options and enabling appointment scheduling. The seamless transfer of the conversation to a human representative, with full context provided, demonstrated a significant improvement in agent efficiency. The session concluded by emphasizing the transformative impact of integrating conversational AI, ultimately leading to versatile contact centers and improved patient experiences at Intermountain Health.

Transforming Patient Experiences: AI-Enabled Website Interaction

The session continued with a live demonstration of how patients interact with the Intermountain Health website and the AI assistant. The patient’s experience was highlighted, showcasing the ease with which she could find a primary care physician in Denver who speaks Spanish. The AI assistant intelligently narrowed down the options based on the patient’s preferences and insurance plan, providing a seamless and efficient search process. The ability to book an appointment online further enhanced the patient’s experience, demonstrating the power of AI-driven interactions.

 

The session transitioned to a recorded call center interaction, exemplifying how the AI assistant operated in real-time. The call began with the AI assistant introducing itself and offering assistance with various tasks like appointments, referrals, and more. The patient inquired about her upcoming appointment, and the assistant efficiently gathered the necessary information, demonstrating the potential for automated appointment verification. This interaction illustrated how the AI seamlessly collaborated with live agents, ensuring a smooth transition and enhancing operational efficiency.

Intermountain's Success with Call Center Automation

Craig Richardville emphasized the remarkable results achieved through the implementation of the AI-powered contact center. He highlighted that 91% of calls were successfully routed to the appropriate department, a significant improvement from previous systems. The automated chat resolved 44% of inquiries without the need for agent intervention, enhancing the patient experience and operational efficiency. Additionally, 79% of patients achieved their desired outcome through the chat interface, indicating high user satisfaction.

24/7 Access and Efficiency

The session highlighted the significance of the contact center’s availability around the clock. A substantial 27% of interactions occurred outside of traditional working hours, ensuring patients could access assistance when it was most convenient for them. This flexibility catered to the diverse schedules and needs of patients, showcasing the adaptability and efficiency of the AI-driven system.

Significant Time and Cost Savings

The implementation of the AI-powered contact center resulted in substantial time and cost savings. It was estimated that hundreds of hours were saved each month, showcasing the substantial return on investment. Furthermore, the reduction in abandonment rates by 64% indicated that patients were no longer experiencing long wait times or frustrations, ultimately improving accessibility and patient satisfaction.

Enhancing Patient Experiences: The Human Touch

While automation played a crucial role, the integration with live agents was highlighted as a key aspect of the system. This ensured that patients could seamlessly transition from automated interactions to personalized conversations with human representatives. The combination of AI-driven efficiency and the human touch demonstrated a holistic approach to patient engagement and care.
Both Craig and Michael concluded by addressing the future of the AI-powered contact center. They emphasized its adaptability to different organizational sizes and needs, even for smaller healthcare practices without dedicated call centers. The system could be implemented in stages, beginning with automating routine interactions, and then gradually expanding to more complex tasks. This demonstrated the scalability, adaptability and versatility of the AI-powered solution.

More sessions from Digital Front Door Day 2023

View more Videos

Watch more
See all Videos
See all Videos

Unlock your digital potential with the #1
adaptive communications platform.

Book a Demo