When Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, introduced its Physician Connection Line five years ago, reactions were mixed.

The call center was meant to provide a more efficient way to connect referring physicians with DHMC scheduling secretaries in their respective departments, or sections. But a quiet introduction, combined with a lack of education about the line, meant that some of the people the service was meant to help—both internally and externally—were instead confused about why a new group of people was taking these calls.

“When we rolled it out, it was almost by stealth,” explains Mary Beth Eldredge, Director, Marketing and Physician Relations. “Nobody knew what it was. Our call center reps were calling our secretaries and saying, ‘We have Dr. Jones on the line,’ and the secretaries were saying, ‘What is the Connection Line?’”

With 2,000 referring providers who send five or more patients a year, 275 scheduling secretaries making the appointments and many other internal administrators and product managers in the mix, the situation needed attention.

In 2003, Kristina Choquette joined DHMC as call center manager and together she and Eldredge went to work to draw up a plan to improve internal and external communication, sell the benefits of using the Physician Connection Line and re-establish credibility with everyone involved.

To do that, they initiated a number of new practices, including attending the monthly operations meetings for scheduling secretaries, where Choquette’s call center representatives have the opportunity to interact with their peers.

“If our scheduling staff can put a face with a name behind the call center—if they can see there’s a human there—any antagonism goes away,” Choquette notes. “They’re able to see our reps are people who are interested in helping the customer.”

Choquette and a phone representative also regularly accompany a member of the physician liaison team to field visits. Because most call center reps have established a phone relationship with the staff at the referring physicians’ offices, the face-to-face visit provides another level of familiarity.

Data also plays an important role in showing the value of the Physician Connection Line, says Choquette.

“When I meet with a section, I can show them how many calls have come through, what city or service area they coming from, and what kind of provider they come from,” she says. “This gives them a way to see the benefit to keeping the call center involved.

In all interactions with sections, they continually emphasize how the call center can help them in their operations by streamlining processes.

“Our representatives who answer the connection line are exemplary in their customer service skills,” Choquette adds. “They can get someone on the phone in one of our sections and effectively explain the situation and the urgency.”

Since implementing the communication effort, internal staff and referring physicians and their own staffs are quick to praise the customer service reps. Responses from a referring physician survey rate “helpfulness of phone staff” and “ease of use and access” 11 points higher than in the past.

That sentiment is shared internally, as well, Choquette says.

“At the most recent supervisor meeting, somebody said the customer service skills of our call center reps are ‘phenomenal.’ From there, the conversation turned into asking if I could share some of the training materials I use.”

Today, the call center maintains a staff of five, who take calls from 8 to 5, Monday through Friday. They’re a respected, valued group in the organization—fielding 90,000 calls a year.

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