What’s In A Voice?

In the most recent copy of AHIP’s Coverage Magazine (JAN+FEB.09), there is a nice feature called “What’s In A Voice?” which talks about Silverlink Communications. You can find the whole article (“Motivating Change“) here, but I pulled out a few quotes:

“When the phone rings, it takes just the right voice to motivate a member to overcome the tendency to put off receiving preventative care.”

“Silverlink calls allow us to communicate with our members in a really personalized way without incurring the costs associated with hiring and training additional customer service representatives.” Linda Lyle, Cariten Healthcare Vice President of Operations

“This mammography campaign contained scripting that allowed the members to respond, [indicating] whether or not they had had a mammogram. We received a large number of ‘yes’ responses that we will pursue for HEDIS improvement, as well as to identify gaps in our data collection. This method of collecting data about our members is unique to telephone outreach. We are anxious to explore our findings.” ” We know how many listened to the message and how many hung up. We know how many people we actually reach.” Michael Bryne, Assistant Director of Quality Management at EmblemHealth.

The article also talks about using non-professional voices such as the Chief Medical Officer or a customer service representative who was really good with members. In one example, Eleanor Sorrentino, the Managing Director of Quality Management at EmblemHealth, talks about getting 50 calls from members thanking her for the automated call which was recorded in her voice.

A few other items talked about include the use of data and reporting which is available real-time to make decisions along with the use of natural sounding voices to drive a conversational experience which leverages internal and professional scripting resources to develop the best content.