Program
Spotlight
Access is Everything!
When people say “access is everything,” they’re
not referring to Kennebec Behavioral Health’s Access Center,
but that’s what we’re referring to this month in the
Program Spotlight. The Access Center manages an incredible
volume of calls and contacts with people from all of our communities
in Central Maine. Directed by Dennis Dix, the staff of seven
in the Access Center has made use of technology to fine tune taking
a client from first call to successful treatment and payment for
services.
Technological advances have enabled the Access Center staff to go
from processing 6000 clients in 2003 to processing 12,000 clients
in 2007, with no increase in the wait list. How would that
be possible? Dennis Dix explains. “We have been
able to re-think how we re-route call traffic. For example,
we can serve clients sooner because we know instantly that if the
Augusta clinic is at capacity we can re-route the call to a clinic
that may be geographically close enough for the client but which
has an opening for that client to be seen.” He goes on
to say, “We are more sensitive to the geography of the wait
list. The Access Center has also been able to reduce KBH’s
wait list by 50% over this period of time while still staying under
budget.”
Use of the Automated Call Distribution (ACD) system also assists
by routing calls to the next available Access Center specialist,
so operators are more available to clients than in past years. Clients
are served by any intake specialist, regardless of their location. The
intake is processed and prepared and then the client can seek services
in the location most convenient for them, or the location which can
accommodate them the most quickly.
One way that the Access Center assures attendance at appointments
after processing initial calls and intake is to call to remind clients
of appointments. There has recently been an 86% compliance
rate, directly attributable to those calls. The ability to quickly
pull from the wait list when appointments become available at the
last minute is also made possible by better wait list management.
The Access Center is not only the first point of contact for
community members to connect with KBH, but they also handle all third
party payment options and are now coordinating the new managed care
requirements (See cover story). The Access Center is continually
looking to reduce the time to service, reduce the wait list, and to
fill available appointments. Access is indeed everything
when it comes to managing the flow of clients and the access to KBH’s
services and care. |
Collaboration
with Community Professionals
Staff at Kennebec Behavioral Health are always interested in developing close
working collaborations with other professionals who care for their clients and
patients. If
you need any assistance at this time do not hesitate to call
us at (888) 322-2136.
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