The patient access challenge in modern healthcare

Despite the healthcare industry’s massive investments into the digital front door, most patients still prefer to pick up the phone.

However, healthcare systems have finite capacity to answer patient calls. Many are under pressure to reduce staff or field more calls with the same number of agents. And while many systems may know why patients are calling, fewer know how well the system is doing in fielding them.

The impact on health systems is staggering: 12-80% no-show rates for highly limited appointment slots, and 52% of patients report delaying or avoiding the doctor altogether.

Extensive wait times
On average, callers spend 60% of their time waiting on hold when trying to schedule an appointment
Lack of responsiveness
Over half of patients calling with care questions fail to get a timely response, requiring them to call again or seek care elsewhere
Limited scheduling hours
Scheduling lines are frequently only available during office hours, making access difficult for busy patients
Ineffective phone systems
At a typical hospital, callers seek >1700 different destinations, but the average IVR routes to fewer than 10
Extensive wait times
On average, callers spend 60% of their time waiting on hold when trying to schedule an appointment
Lack of responsiveness
Over half of patients calling with care questions fail to get a timely response, requiring them to call again or seek care elsewhere
Limited scheduling hours
Scheduling lines are frequently only available during office hours, making access difficult for busy patients
Ineffective phone systems
At a typical hospital, callers seek >1700 different destinations, but the average IVR routes to fewer than 10

Bridging the gap with tangible results

While these challenges might seem impossible to overcome, with the right partner, transformative results are within reach. Syllable is proud of the tangible results realized by its partners:

+68 pts
increase in agent capacity
40%
decrease in agent talk time
$1.3M
saved for every 1M calls

Partnership spotlights

Houston Methodist worked with Syllable to expand its capacity to meet high call volume and patient demand
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Decentralized system partnered with Syllable to benchmark and understand patient access over the phone
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Virtua Health leveraged Actium Health’s predictive AI models to unlock insights in its EHR data and generate highly targeted audiences for its campaigns
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68% of RX calls shifted away from staff and achieved 95% workflow success rate
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Wyoming Department of Health enhanced communication with their Medicaid recipient population, advising high risk pregnant women of available resources
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Voice of our partners

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