Houston Methodist + Syllable

SUMMARY OF SUCCESS

Bolstering call centers to meet high demand

Houston Methodist worked with Syllable to expand its capacity to meet high call volume and patient demand. Using Syllable’s AI-powered Patient Assistant, they were able to answer 100% of inbound phone calls during massive call surges.

Houston Methodist automated eligibility screening and appointment scheduling when the first COVID-19 vaccine became available. As a result, they scheduled and delivered 4,000 vaccines daily while saving hundreds of hours of critical staff time every day.

THE CHALLENGE

Managing call volume surges

Houston Methodist knew they needed to prepare for a massive influx of inbound phone calls in response to the upcoming availability of COVID-19 vaccination appointments. They expected call volume to surge by a factor of 4-5x purely from callers asking for information and appointments.

Anticipating the surge, the Houston Methodist team brainstormed financially-viable strategies to maintain a positive call experience while providing timely information to their patients and the public. They quickly realized that hiring additional call center staff to answer the calls would not be an option. The costs were too high, it was difficult to quickly hire staff in a labor-constrained market, and there was not enough time to recruit.

THE SOLUTION

AI-assisted call management

Syllable’s AI-powered Patient Assistant was deployed to solve Houston Methodist’s critical needs. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language understanding (NLU), Syllable helped Houston Methodist address a high volume of callers while also providing a high return on investment. Syllable’s Patient Assistant used AI to provide up-to-date responses to patients’ unique questions and transfer them directly to the appropriate agents and nurses.

Additionally, integrating with Houston Methodist’s scheduling system meant the Patient Assistant could help schedule and manage appointments without costing valuable staff time. By rolling out the Patient Assistant to handle thousands of calls every day across multiple locations, Houston Methodist was able to use a standardized solution to solve a problem that would otherwise have required significant time and costs from recruitment, training, and labor management.

Ultimately, Syllable provided Houston Methodist with a solution that – 

• Dynamically scaled to accommodate surges in inbound calls.
• Answered patient questions and helped them schedule and manage appointments.
• Helped more patients promptly access important care.
• Positively impacted patient experience.
• Yielded a high return on investment.

THE RESULT

Meeting surges in demand for care

Syllable’s Patient Assistant ensured Houston Methodist had the necessary infrastructure to meet surges in call volume and address the high demand for care. Houston Methodist was able to use the Patient Assistant to manage up to 14,500 calls a day (and upwards of 3,500 per hour). The Patient Assistant was able to address vaccine questions and even schedule vaccination appointments for 91 percent of callers. This resulted in delivering over 4,000 vaccines daily across the health system in the first month of their vaccine program.

With Syllable’s AI technology, Houston Methodist was able to meet the massive surge in patient demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only did automating inbound call management save 300+ hours of staff time every day, Houston Methodist was also able to provide a positive and innovative experience to patients trying to reach their health system. Overall, the system was able to handle more volume without hiring more staff, reduce existing burden on already overworked staff, improve operational efficiency during an unprecedented time, and improve convenience for patients who needed access to care.

Houston Methodist and Syllable have continued to work together to reduce staff burden and drive revenue to the health system through additional access channels. Currently at Houston Methodist, Syllable is deployed across all hospitals and high priority service lines and is in the process of expanding across practices.