Representatives answer nearly 25,000 patient calls every month.

A phone call is often the first contact a patient has with the UConn Health Center so those who answer that call play an important role. “Our representatives are often the first impression a patient will have of the Health Center,” says Milissa Woodward, manager of the UConnLink Call Center. “So it’s important that they are professional, efficient and sympathetic so that the patient begins his or her health care experience on a positive note.”

The UConnLink Call Center was created 13 years ago by Woodward and she has been the manager for most of those years. She was recently asked to also manage the Primary Connect Call Center, which handles all the internal medicine and general medicine practices in Farmington, West Hartford, Simsbury, and East Hartford.

“We’re looking globally at how all the systems are done to see if we can streamline some of the overlapping services,” says Woodward. “Basically, we want to have a more cohesive phone answering system from the two call centers and make sure we are all on the same page.”

The call centers are staffed from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Between the two centers, there are approximately a dozen representatives who answer nearly 25,000 calls every month. That averages out to more than 90 calls per person per day. Woodward says they get the most calls on Monday, and on those busier days, it’s not unusual for staff to take close to 140 calls each.

“We are a busy department and we handle a lot of calls every day, but we treat each caller as an individual,” says Angelis Almenas, who has been a UConnLink representative for six years.

While some clinical departments choose to have their own staff answer patient calls, UConnLink can book patient appointments in the majority of specialties. Their number is the 1-800-535-6232 that is on all ads, brochures, news releases, and other marketing materials.

“I have to work individually with all department managers to find out exactly how each of their doctors want their patients booked,” explains Woodward. “So even though we try to have some kind of global standard, it is very difficult. It takes a lot of coordination.”

Along with answering inbound calls, the UConnLink representatives also make outbound calls to patients. They book, cancel, and reschedule appointments for many specialties, they register staff and the public for classes such as childbirth classes or nurses training courses, and they screen candidates for various research studies.

They also relay important patient information to physicians. “When a patient calls who has diabetes and says the doctor needs to know his or her blood sugar levels, it’s crucial that we get those numbers right and get the message to the doctor as soon as possible,” explains Woodward. “The same goes for prescription refills or any other vital medical information that needs to be passed on to the doctor in a timely manner.”

They also do off-phone work. For instance, they send out brochures and fluoride testing kits, read and respond to emails sent to the main Health Center email account, handle online class registrations, and fax discharge summaries to outside primary care offices.

The goal of both call centers is to decrease the “abandon rate” – when patients hang up before being helped. Nationwide, the average abandon rate for hospital call centers is 3 percent. UConnLink fluctuates between 2 percent and 3 percent, with an average abandon time of 15 seconds. The abandon rate for Primary Connect is 4 percent, with an average abandon time of one minute, 20 seconds. “The times can vary greatly,” says Woodward. “For instance, a surgery patient will hold longer than someone who is just calling for information about a new program.”

The time spent on the phone actually talking with patients can also vary widely, but the primary goal for each representative is getting them the information and help they need, regardless of time.

Kimberly Sales has been answering phones for Primary Connect for 11 years. “I love talking to patients, I like getting to know them, and I get a lot of satisfaction out of helping them.”

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