The Pioneers

What do San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, San Francisco, Tulare, Solano and Santa Barbara Counties all have in common? They have all revolutionized their approach to providing client services to their Medi-Cal and/or Food Stamp clients through the implementation of a service center. All of these counties faced similar challenges – supporting an increasing case load with a reduced budget. Modeled after private sector call centers, designed with best-practice process engineering and supported by innovative technologies, these organizations are changing the way county governments think about providing the best possible support to their clients.

What does Orange Counties have in common with these pioneers? With the support of InTelegy Corporation, they too are developing plans to implement this tested solution and expecting the same great results.

The Service Center Solution

Develop a plan, implement the plan, and test the results. This simple model is the backbone of the process followed by InTelegy with service center implementations. The first step is a detailed strategy and plan, the blueprint for the service center. The second step is a detailed design and implementation phase. The third step is ongoing operations supported by onsite experts– assessing and adjusting as needed to ensure success.

These steps are supported by a perfected project management process that involves key subject matter experts from the Medi-Cal or Food Stamp programs, including supervisors, eligibility workers and clerical staff, to participate in structured committees. All participants have a direct impact on the decisions made, processes designed and tools developed to support the service center implementations. This process, combined with InTelegy’s vast set of methodologies, templates and county service center-specific tools, facilitates a successful service center launch.

The Results

The results are measured in many areas and all support the fact that implementing a service center makes for great client service–and fiscal sense. Some examples include:

Improved Client Service and Satisfaction

• 35% increase in client service from surveys conducted over the 1st year of a new service center
• Elimination of backlog case work within the first month of launching a service center
• Consistent achievement of call handling service level – 80% of calls answered in 35 seconds or less

Improved Employee Satisfaction

• Employee satisfaction ratings improved by 55% at the one year mark
• Employees report satisfaction with the service center process, especially when they return from vacation and their desk is not piled high with backed-up case work
• Employee evangelist–an EWIII–vocal in her concern over the service center plan, now acts as a voice for the service center visiting other counties in the planning phase

Improved Management Satisfaction
The Service Center revolutionizes the way eligibility supervisors and managers can manage their business.

• Service Center Reports: Immediate insight into how well you are serving your clients–both over the phone and case maintenance activities. Reports ensure nothing slips through cracks.
• Quality Review Processes: New ways of approaching case review, and the addition of call quality reviews, allows supervisors the ability to work directly with their staff to guide their case work and client interactions.

Consolidated Infrastructure

Most service center implementations also result in a better use of county facility resources, making fiscal and client service sense.

InTelegy’s experience expands to all areas that touch the service center including: Document Imaging, Process Development, Project Management and Training. InTelegy has also developed Executive Feasibility Studies for programs outside of Medi-Cal and Food Stamps, assessing the future opportunity of the service center concept.