by Call Center Outsourcing Expert on November 15, 2011
If you are in the medical insurance industry, this is crunch time! Open enrollment for Medicare Part D ends on December 7, 2011, barely 3 weeks away. Coinciding with the open enrollment period for many corporate insurance plans, the early Medicare decision deadline puts extraordinary pressure on insurance agents and insurance providers to renew current policy holders and sell their services to new customers.
Nationwide, 27.6 million Part D beneficiaries have more than 1,576 plans to choose from. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation report, from 41 to 55 plans will be competing for consumer attention regionally. If you sell Part D coverage, you know that two things will most impact your sales figures:
- The number of potential beneficiaries you reach, and
- How quickly you reach them.
The shear volume of phone calls and time required to contact current and prospective clients is a herculean task that can quickly overwhelm your office staff or in-house health care call center. The same is true if you handle the open enrollment process for corporate clients. If, like many insurance agents or providers, you handle both; it’s double the pain.
As the December 7 Medicare Part D open enrollment deadline draws closer, overworked employees and in-house call center staff are going to be feeling the pressure. The resulting stress can lead to increased errors and decreased civility; both business killers. Outsourcing health insurance calls to an expert health care call center can solve your problem, ease the stress on employees and result in higher sales and greater customer satisfaction. It’s a win-win solution for your firm, your employees and your customers.
And it’s not too late to get the help you need to succeed. A highly-regarded health care call center referral service, Telesales Services specializes in matching clients to experienced, high-quality healthcare call centers that are ready to go when you are — even at the eleventh hour!
by Call Center Outsourcing Expert on October 27, 2011
For health care stakeholders, an unprecedented opportunity to increase market share looms on the horizon. When new healthcare reforms take effect in 2014, an anticipated 40 million new customers will be added to health insurance rolls, shifting industry emphasis from corporations to individuals. Not only will thousands of previously ineligible or uninsured consumers gain access to health insurance under the new legislation; employees will gain the power to choose their own health care coverage. Healthcare stakeholders who position themselves to accommodate the coming paradigm shift will reap the greatest rewards. To win the business of individuals, health insurance and healthcare product providers will need to place greater emphasis on providing responsive communication and personalized customer service.
According to a recent survey of 1,000 insured individuals conducted by Accenture, a global management consulting firm, nearly 80% of health care consumers value easy and convenient customer service and nearly 50% are willing to pay extra to get it. (Results of the Accenture survey were reported in The 7 Things Your Health Insurance Customers Are Not Telling You. Click the link to read the full report.)Survey analysis found that 42% of health insurance customers reported a high degree of satisfaction with their health insurance, but only 7% said they would consider purchasing additional products from their insurer. Dissatisfaction with their health insurance provider’s customer service appears to be at the root of the disconnect.
In the 5 areas health care survey consumers rated as most important — knowledgeable representatives, convenient service hours, wait time, single contact, length of issue resolution — the Accenture survey found an average 50% gap between customer expectations and insurer performance. Outsourcing your health insurance call center or healthcare telemarketing services can help you close that gap. Telesales Services can help you boost customer satisfaction and increase customer loyalty by matching you to a quality health care call center that can provide the personalized customer service your customers desire.
