In order to provide better service to clients and improve clinical workflow, the UC Davis veterinary hospital is opening a new call center in late August 2019. Currently, the hospital receives upwards of 1,800 phone calls per day, fielded by 10-15 client service representatives (CSRs) at the busiest times – all of whom are physically located in one of three walk-up reception areas. The new call center will be housed away from the reception areas to give CSRs an opportunity to provide dedicated one-on-one client service.

By implementing a stand-alone call center away from the busy clinical environment, the hospital can achieve the following benefits:
•    Reduce multi-tasking and stress related to prioritizing the multiple demands currently present in the clinics (phone calls, walk-up clients, clinical support needs, administrative functions)
•    Fewer phone interruptions in the clinics to allow more focus on face-to-face interactions with clients and more engaged support for clinicians
•    Fewer in-person distractions for CSRs handling calls to allow better focus on interactions with clients and fully address their needs

“Excellent communication is a cornerstone to providing the highest quality care to our clients,” said Joy Hoover, MBA, hospital administrator. “That begins with the client’s first interaction with us, which is generally their initial phone call to the hospital. We have taken great strides over the past year to optimize that experience for our clients.”

CSRs will rotate on a daily basis through the call center and reception desks to improve engagement with the clients while maintaining a finger on the pulse of clinical operations.

Many enhancements have been implemented to ensure the success of the Call Center:
•    Streamlined menu options to better process client calls
•    Dedicated phone numbers for Large Animal and Small Animal to bypass the menu for clinicians when transferring clients back to phone system to schedule an appointment
     o    These calls will be given priority over all other scheduling calls to save clinician time and facilitate delivery of scheduling instructions
•    Direct and prioritized access for referring veterinarians
•    Better documentation of appointment scheduling protocols to improve accuracy in the scheduling process
•    An online knowledge base to allow easy access to scheduling protocols and reference documents with the most up-to-date information
•    Additional CSR resources to support the new model

“The call center will provide our clients with a customer service experience on par with the excellent clinical care they’ve come to expect from UC Davis,” added Hoover. “This improvement to our business model is an important step toward fulfilling our strategic plan.”

Appointments at the UC Davis veterinary hospital can be scheduled by calling 530-752-1393.

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