RightNow Helps Deliver Great Service, Reduce Costs, And Grow New Business
Goals
- Reduce call center costs
- Ensure HIPAA compliance when answering customers' questions via email
- Provide technical support for Health-e-Web online claims processing service
Achievements
- 3,000 fewer phone calls per month, resulting in a 14 percent reduction in contact center headcount
- Secure, HIPAA-compliant email management system
- Online support and training extends geographic market reach for Health-e-Web
One of the great things about RightNow is that it is so adaptable to so many different business challenges. That's why RightNow users often find themselves enjoying benefits well above and beyond the ones for which they originally purchased the software.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT) is a prime example. Originally, BCBSMT purchased RightNow to take advantage of the internet boom. With more and more people using the internet every day, BCBSMT knew it was time to make answers available to customers via the web. The company also needed a good way to deal with the increased email volume that would result from growing use of the internet.
RightNow was BCBSMT's clear choice. Its technology clearly met the immediate need, and it came highly recommended by analysts such as Meta Group. The fact that BCBSMT could support another Montana-based enterprise was another big plus.
BCBSMT started building its online knowledge base, and customers began using it—finding answers to their own questions 24/7 on the web.
As an added bonus, this increase in web use began to impact BCBSMT's call center. The combination of RightNow and other CRM initiatives resulted in BCBSMT's call volume dropping by over 3,000 calls per month. That allowed BCBSMT to reduce its call center headcount by about 14 percent. That cost savings continues to increase as customers become more accustomed to using the web to ask questions.
RightNow's email management system has also provided an unexpected benefit by easing compliance with HIPAA regulations concerning the security of personal healthcare-related information. BCBSMT customers use RightNow's web interface to submit questions about anything from the location of a nearby provider to the cost of a treatment they've received. In the case of personal questions like the latter, BCBSMT must take special steps to ensure that the reply is kept confidential. So, instead of simply sending a conventional email reply, BCBSMT uses its RightNow CRM software system to point the customer to a password-protected URL that holds their answer. This secure approach fulfills BCBSMT's obligations under HIPAA while making it easy for customers to submit and receive answers.
BCBSMT has gained still more unexpected business benefits from RightNow's CRM software system in conjunction with its Health-e-Web service, which makes it easy for healthcare providers to manage their claims processing and payments via the internet. RightNow has proven to be an extremely powerful tool for providing online technical support, thereby reducing the cost of running Health-e-Web and ensuring that users make full use of its capabilities. In fact, more than half of all user questions are now handled by RightNow online without any human intervention.
One RightNow answer in particular was posted to address a modification made to the Health-e-Web system shortly after its launch. That answer received over 130 "hits" almost immediately, which means it saved the call center more than 130 phone calls over the course of just a few days. Within two months, that same answer received another 700-plus hits, as customers continued to have questions about the modification.
The team managing Health-e-Web's RightNow implementation then went a step further. They started incorporating screen shots, PowerPoint graphics, audio and other multimedia content into many of its online answers—transforming them into highly effective, bite-sized training sessions. By doing so, they have made sure that users fully understand how to use the system and have pro-actively avoided a huge number of support calls.
Armed with this powerful online support and training engine, BCBSMT can now market Health-e-Web even more aggressively across the state and beyond. "Without RightNow, we would have had to be much more concerned about the time and cost associated with sending our people out over tremendous distances to support and train staff at our providers' offices," explains Health-e-Web CTO Joseph Fleming. "Now, because RightNow enables us to do so much of our support and training online, we can move ahead with our plans to offer our services over a much, much larger geographic area."
BCBSMT's experience should be a lesson for every other company evaluating RightNow's solutions. Yes, RightNow delivers great customer service on a tight budget. But RightNow can also have significant positive impact on many other areas of the business—including growth, profitability and market reach.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana Support Site | Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana Homepage
About Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana (BCBSMT) is the oldest and largest healthcare insurer in the state. The company serves over a quarter-million members across the state, plus 140,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Fifty-six hospitals, all critical access or rural hospitals, and over 2,100 allied health care professionals participate with BCBCMT to provide health care services in Montana.
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