Modernizing the OPTN’s patient information and support service

Challenge

OPTN 411, the support service for the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN), offers resources to patients, clinicians, caregivers, organ procurement organizations, and other stakeholders inquiring about patient eligibility, waitlist information, federal policies, and a variety of other needs.   

In recent years, officials at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which oversees the OPTN, identified limitations in the service’s technology and data reporting that affected its visibility into operations. More detailed information about why patients were calling was needed to support HRSA’s efforts to modernize the structure, delivery, and oversight of OPTN services.

HRSA leaders sought a new contractor that would provide regular reporting, upgrade the service’s technology, and facilitate a consistent experience. 

Approach

HRSA chose Guidehouse to take over management and operations of the support service and improve its workflows, a part of our participation in a broader project to modernize the OPTN. Our work included building a new customer relationship management (CRM) and telephony infrastructure, enhancing data reporting, and developing central standard operating procedures (SOPs) and training for service agents. In just six weeks, our team of technologists and experts took over management of the service and transformed its operations: 

Modernized technology: We overhauled the support service’s technology infrastructure, implementing a modern Salesforce- based CRM system, along with an updated telephony system that helps staff answer questions quickly and accurately while generating data insights for HRSA leaders. As a technology-agnostic vendor, we worked with the government’s preferred software providers to create a solution that met all operational and compliance requirements.  

Improved quality assurance and transparency: Guidehouse and its operating partner, IQ Solutions, are held to service level agreements and key performance indicators (KPIs) such as wait time, customer satisfaction (CSAT), and email/voicemail response rate. Each month, a quality assurance analyst audits calls to identify patterns, assess customer sentiment, and evaluate opportunities for continuous improvement. We conduct training with all service agents based on these findings.   

New standard operating procedures (SOPs): Guidehouse experts created brand-new SOPs and scripts for call intake, call assessment, and answers to the wide variety of questions the support service receives each day. Guidehouse updates these materials on an ongoing basis based on both staff and caller feedback.   

Streamlined data analytics: Our team created a robust reporting framework, sharing high-level data on a monthly basis and offering a detailed analysis at quarterly reviews. Reports capture operational volume, timing trends, leading inquiry topics, abandonment rate, CSAT scores, and other KPIs that help HRSA understand stakeholder needs and service performance. 

Impact

In its first six months of operations, the support service answered more than 1,000 calls. Performance during that time period exceeded goals across all KPIs:

• 94% of calls were answered within 20 seconds, a metric that continues to trend upward
• 100% of emails and after-hours voicemails were returned within one business day
• 100% of callers surveyed said they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their experience 

With newfound visibility into who is contacting OPTN 411, why they are calling, and what issues are emerging across the transplant ecosystem, HRSA leaders are now empowered to transform how the public experiences OPTN services and effectively decide where modernization efforts should focus next.