Somewhere on the other end of the line is the Help Desk. Every Baptist team member knows the number and uses it—and expects to use it.
But what happens on the other end of that line, specifically at Baptist where the calls are answered 24/7? To put this technical reality into staggering perspective, let’s first talk about a few specifics.
- About 25 Baptist team members handle the Help Desk.
- Conversely, more than 15,000 people use this service—and that doesn’t count patients and more than 200 clinics beyond Baptist physicians.
- The Help Desk helps with….well, everything. Hardware, software, applications, desktop, devices, phones…anything an end user touches or uses to connect with Baptist.
- With the advent of MyChart, the Help Desk also accepts non-English callers.
- The Help Desk processes about 11,000 calls every month or 400 calls every day.
- The Help Desk isn’t a desk—it’s technical people, and since 2013, even clinicians like nurses.
As part of Baptist Technology Services, the Help Desk is the front-facing team whose primary goal is to solve a technical problem. Whether it’s for a physician or an accountant, the goal to help remains the same: To fix a technical problem.
In April 2016, the Help Desk started a KATA to analyze wait times. “We were averaging five to six-minute wait times,” said Vicki Harden-Balash, director of customer support. In six months, 98 percent of calls are now answered within 40 seconds.
Training is ongoing and collaborative. “Our first-call resolution is just over half at 54 percent,” said Tim Bradshaw, Help Desk Manager. Two dedicated staff members circulate BTS, mining information from other groups to identify knowledge gaps and training opportunities to avoid transferring calls beyond the Help Desk.
In the pre MyChart days, the Help Desk audience primarily consisted of internal Baptist team members. Today, a caller may be a patient or family member; those 11,000 calls are split nearly in half between external and internal callers. Factors like language, age, and technical proficiency play into the mix. “Our job is to interpret. Many times, we have to figure out what a caller is attempting to explain,” said Vicki.
For Help Desk teams, however, this is just part of the process. David King, a self-professed proud geek, advises callers not to worry. “It doesn’t matter if you’re technical, just describe your problem to us, and we can help.” Another team member, Adrian Bean, agrees. “We are here to help and understand. We know stress can be a reality, especially for our physicians who are calling. But we can help and get your call done efficiently.”
And what about those pesky survey forms that arrive electronically after every call? They are the key method for figuring out if you’re happy, so be sure to take a moment to fill it out. “We use the data to gauge our performance and make improvements,” said Vicki.
The next time the laptop goes haywire or your login just won’t work, the Help Desk will still be there, waiting to solve your problem–one more time.