10 Essential Contact Centre Metrics and KPIs to Measure in Healthcare

Contact centres are important for enhancing customer experience, but how do you gauge their efficiency?

Measuring contact centre metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) is crucial for assessing performance and ensuring alignment with business objectives. In healthcare, this translates to serving patients more efficiently and delivering better quality care.

With the right data, you can make informed decisions to steer your business in the right direction. But with countless contact centre KPIs available, which ones should you prioritize?

Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered! Ruthie Carey at Five9 looks at 10 essential healthcare contact centre metrics and KPIs to measure.

Why Measure Metrics and KPIs in Healthcare?

Measuring metrics and KPIs in healthcare is crucial for several reasons.

1. Enhanced Patient Satisfaction: Tracking metrics related to patient experience and satisfaction allows you to identify areas for improvement and tailor your services to better meet patient needs.
2. Improved Operational Effectiveness: Measuring metrics such as call volume, average handling time, and first call resolution rates helps in identifying inefficiencies in your processes and streamlining operations for improved efficiency.
3. Better Quality of Care: By monitoring metrics related to treatment outcomes, wait times, and adherence to clinical protocols, you can ensure the delivery of high-quality care to patients.
4. Optimized Resource Allocation: Tracking metrics related to resource utilization, staffing levels, and scheduling helps in allocating resources more effectively, ensuring that patient needs are met efficiently.
5. Compliance with Regulatory Requirements: Measuring metrics related to data security, privacy, and compliance with healthcare regulations helps in mitigating risks and ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements.
6. Continuous Improvement: Monitoring metrics and KPIs allows you to identify healthcare contact centre trends, track progress over time, and make data-driven decisions to drive continuous improvement in patient care and operational performance.

Measuring Patient Experience

1. First Contact Resolution (FCR)

The FCR metric should be a fundamental component of your call centre KPI mix. FCR, which measures how often a customer’s issue is resolved on the first call, is crucial for enhancing your reputation and customer satisfaction rates.

On the other hand, a low FCR can result in negative feedback and customers switching to competitors. Customers prefer efficient resolutions and don’t want to spend hours explaining their issues to different agents to find a solution.

2. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) stands as one of the most important call centre KPIs, reflecting the satisfaction levels of your customers with your services.

A high CSAT score signifies satisfied customers and reinforces positive relationships. However, a low CSAT score warrants attention, signaling potential issues within your contact centre.

But how do you calculate a CSAT score?

Calculating a CSAT score involves gathering feedback from customers, typically by asking them to rate their experience on a scale of 1 to 5 at various stages of the process.

There isn’t a standardized CSAT survey or scoring method, but by analyzing lower scores at different stages, you can identify areas for improvement.

3. Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

Similar to CSAT, Net Promoter Score (NPS) also assesses customer experience, but it adds another dimension: customer loyalty. NPS measures how likely a customer is to recommend a product or service to others.

The scoring is based on a sliding scale, with 9 and 10 indicating promoters, 7 to 8 as passive, and 0 to 6 as detractors. You calculate the NPS by subtracting the percentage of detractors from promoters. A score of over 50 is considered acceptable.

Since NPS surveys are easy to administer, they provide valuable insights into which clients are the most loyal and which may be at risk of leaving.

4. First Response Time (FRT)

First Response Time (FRT) gauges the average time a customer waits before connecting with a contact centre agent. To compute FRT, divide the total wait time by the number of calls.

A high FRT may indicate issues with technology capabilities or staffing levels. Conversely, a low FRT suggests higher customer satisfaction. Therefore, your aim should be to minimize your FRT to enhance the customer experience.

Measuring Agent Productivity

5. Average Handle Time (AHT)

Average Handle Time (AHT) measures the time an agent spends on a single interaction, encompassing queue wait time, agent-caller conversation, and post-call tasks.

While many contact centre agents are assessed based on resolution speed to reduce call wait times and enhance resolution rates, optimizing AHT requires caution.

Rushing agents to expedite calls may improve AHT metrics but can lead to decreased customer satisfaction. Striking a balance between efficiency and quality is crucial for maximizing AHT effectiveness.

6. Agent Occupancy Rate

The agent occupancy rate in a call centre reflects the percentage of time agents spend on call-related activities, including taking calls and after-call work. Aim for an average occupancy rate between 75% and 85% for optimal agent performance.

But why not aim for a 100% occupancy rate?

Agents working at full occupancy function like machines without breaks. They lack time for training sessions, note-taking after calls, or improving service levels.

To nurture agent development and uphold customer service quality, aim for a maximum occupancy rate of no more than 90%.

7. Average Speed of Answer (ASA)

ASA, or Average Speed of Answer, represents the average time an agent takes to answer inbound calls, encompassing the duration while the agent’s phone rings but excluding the time spent by the caller in IVR systems or in the queue.

The industry average ASA is approximately 28 seconds.

Extended ASA times pose several risks, including customer dissatisfaction, heightened agent absenteeism and turnover, and indicate efficiency and accessibility concerns.

To address these risks, prioritize reducing ASA by employing knowledgeable agents capable of promptly addressing customer queries.

8. Average Abandonment Rate

The average abandonment rate reflects the percentage of calls where customers hang up before connecting to an agent.

An abandonment rate between 5 and 8% is no cause for concern. However, if it exceeds 10%, it’s time for you to investigate why agents struggle to connect with callers.

Potential causes include understaffing during peak hours or technical issues that hinder agent efficiency, both of which can inflate the KPI. Remember, every hung-up call represents a missed opportunity, so vigilance over this metric is essential.

Measuring Operations

9. Cost per Contact (CPC)

CPC, or Cost Per Contact, measures the average cost incurred for each call handled by a contact centre agent. This metric provides valuable insights into operational effectiveness and aids in resource allocation decisions.

By analyzing CPC, you can determine if your call centre is operating cost-efficiently and effectively allocating resources. The CPC is calculated by dividing the total cost of all calls by the total number of calls handled.

10. Call Arrival Rate

This metric, known as call volume, tracks the number of daily calls throughout the month. Analyzing this call centre KPI allows you to pinpoint days when call volumes were exceptionally high or low.

This insight enables you to predict peak call times and schedule agents’ work accordingly, ensuring optimal staffing levels to handle customer inquiries efficiently.

Best Practices for Tracking Metrics and KPIs in Healthcare

Now that you’re familiar with the metrics and KPIs to monitor, implement these best practices for healthcare contact centres to enhance tracking efficiency.

1. Regular Monitoring and Analysis

Consistently monitor and analyze healthcare contact centre metrics and KPIs to stay informed about performance. This ongoing evaluation helps identify healthcare contact centre trends and areas for improvement and enables timely adjustments to optimize outcomes and patient satisfaction.

2. Benchmarking Against Industry Standards

Benchmark your organization’s performance against industry standards to pinpoint strengths and areas for improvement, fostering continuous enhancement and competitiveness in the healthcare sector.

3. Continuous Training and Skill Development

Prioritize continuous training and skill development for healthcare staff to ensure they possess the necessary knowledge and skills for effective metric tracking and interpretation.

4. Utilization of Advanced Technology

Utilize advanced technology like analytics platforms and data visualization tools to streamline metric tracking and analysis in healthcare. This automation enables real-time insights, user-friendly data visualization, and informed decision-making, enhancing overall performance in healthcare delivery.

These contact centre metrics best practices will help you keep track of your metrics and KPIs in an efficient way.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Five9 – View the Original Article

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Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.

Author: Five9