On the Road to Customer Satisfaction, Nothing but Green Lights for LogistiCare/Circulation

Atlanta, Georgia’s LogistiCare/Circulation is on the front lines of improving access to healthcare for 24 million patients across the country.

As one of the largest managers in the US of nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT), LogistiCare facilitates more than 65 million rides annually in 43 states and the District of Columbia. It’s the longest-running NEMT (Non-Emergency Medical Transportation) vendor in the United States. Need more proof of just how influential LogistiCare/ Circulation is in the NEMT space? Consider this: LogistiCare/Circulation is called upon frequently by both the Kaiser Family Foundation and the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide data, weigh in on trends, and give an accurate look at what’s happening in the health care industry.

LogistiCare/Circulation core commitment is supporting and improving their patient experience through consistent and caring access. Studies have shown time and again that outcomes are improved, and costs are lowered, when patients who lack access to transportation are given free, reliable rides to healthcare facilities. This means fewer ambulance rides and emergency room visits and, most importantly, better outcomes
for patients.

From automating the processes for its drivers to tracking members’ rides before, during, and after pick-up, technology innovation has been critical to LogistiCare providing the best customer service in the industry. As Enterprise Voice Architect Nate Bielamowicz explains, LogistiCare/ Circulation has found an ideal technology innovation partner in Avaya.“

When it comes to communicating with our customers, Avaya is the company we trust,” he says. “Avaya is hands down the leader in the contact center space, and innovation is as important to them as it is to us. It’s a great synergy.”

Roadmap for happy customers

According to Bielamowicz, the importance of Logisticare’s contact centers cannot be overstated.

“Bottom line, our contact centers are our business.” he says.

LogistiCare operates 12 contact centers across the United States staffed by over 3,000 agents. Its recent implementation of Avaya Intelligent Experiences Contact Center has increased patient satisfaction, significantly reduced costs, and is integral in the retention of state agency contracts.

What does the Avaya IX Contact Center bring to the table that is making customers so much happier? Two words: resiliency and uptime. In the past, a power outage or hiccup on the network meant an entire contact center could go down for up to 30 minutes, which, according to Bielamowicz, “just destroyed our business at that particular center.” It was also a great source of frustration for patients who were trying to schedule rides. Today, however, with the new resilient Avaya platform, outages like that are a thing of the past.

Intelligent call routing means that scheduling is also now easier and more efficient for patients, which means happy customers.

And you’ll see nothing but smiles on the faces of Bielamowicz and his CFO because, as he describes it, “we’ve saved a fortune,” moving to Avaya IX Contact Center.

All roads lead to gaining and retaining business

Not surprisingly, LogistiCare is held to stringent reporting standards by the state agencies and managed care organizations (MCO) it serves. With Avaya Call Management System, reporting is turn key for LogistiCare. In fact, the reporting functionality is so good that Bielamowicz credits it as crucial to retaining LogistiCare/Circulation state and MCO contracts on an ongoing basis.

“The reporting capabilities of the Avaya solution absolutely help us keep our state and MCO customers,” he says. “We provide accurate and timely reports and that makes LogistiCare easy to work with.”

Hitching a ride to the future

As of today, many of LogistiCare/Circulation patients are elderly and prefer to contact the company by phone. But, Bielamowicz expects that to shift gradually over time to a future that involves other communications channels besides traditional voice. He’s working with Avaya to build out his omnichannel strategy so that patients have the flexibility to contact LogistiCare/Circulation in whatever way works best for them.

“Omnichannel will be critical to us moving forward as demographics change. And of course, I’m confident that Avaya will support us in that as we continue to grow and the communication landscape continues to evolve,” concludes Bielamowicz.