As Rehab Medical continues to face several industry wide challenges in regard to patient communication and inventory shortages, the company is implementing numerous structural changes to provide better service for its patients and employees.
Beginning with the service department, the leadership team has divided this department into three unique specialty teams: Specialty team one – Customer Service Representative (CSR), Specialty team two – Customer Service Specialist (CSS and CSTS), and Specialty team three – Customer Experience Representative (CER). This new specialty team structure will serve to route customers to the correct department or representative quicker to resolve issues more efficiently.
Specialty team one, CSR, will serve as the first line of defense for all general service inquiries. Originally this team staffed eight to 10 people but over the next three months, the leadership team will be doubling the entire service team to support up to 20 employees dedicated to improving lives.
Specialty team two, CSS and CSTS, consist of two specialty teams: a technical specialist and a sales and insurance specialist. These two teams will specialize troubleshooting equipment malfunctions and helping patients to obtain new mobility equipment. Currently this team staffs four people but will staff up to 10 people in the coming months.
Specialty team three, CER, will support patients as an end-to-end experience. When a patient calls in and is upset or frustrated with any part of the process, this team will step in to resolve the issue and will follow through with this patient until the patient can confidently state they are satisfied with the outcome of how their issue was addressed and resolved.
In addition to restructuring the customer service department, the leadership team has also restructured other parts of the operations team. There will be three buckets a patient will fall under, pre-order phase, pre-authorization phase, or post-sale phase.
During the pre-order phase, all inquiries from patients will be directed straight to the Patient Care Representative, Sales Representative, or Branch Manager. Additionally, the company will be taking a more proactive approach with patients and each rep will be responsible for contacting patients every five days regarding the status of their pre-order stage.
During the pre-authorization phase, office staff such as office managers and office assistants will begin handling all patient inquiries as it relates to insurance verifications, equipment orders, delivery schedules, and any other necessary items to ensure the patient receives their equipment quickly.
The last phase, post-sale, will be strictly handled by the customer service team and patient inquiries will be evenly distributed as outlined in the new customer service structure above.
For questions about the new structural changes and how it may impact your specific role, please contact Director of Customer Experience Heather Morecraft at hmorecraft@rehabmedical.com.