Transforming Healthcare Coordination: What Call Centers Are Doing Right (and Why It Matters)
A practical, evidence-based guide to improving access, communication, and outcomes
Healthcare Coordination Is Failing—Right at the Front Door
In healthcare, the first point of contact is often a phone call. Whether it’s a patient trying to schedule a follow-up, a caregiver needing transportation support, or someone verifying insurance coverage, everything starts with that call.
But here’s the problem: too many calls go unanswered.
In the United States, healthcare call centers handle approximately 2,000 calls per day, with about 7% of those calls being abandoned, resulting in roughly 140 people a day hanging up before receiving assistance (Dialog Health, 2024). That’s not just poor service. It’s lost access, delayed care, and potentially $45,000 in missed revenue each day.
It’s no exaggeration to say that your phone system might be the weakest link in your care coordination strategy.
What Makes a Call Center Effective in Healthcare?
Let’s dig into how a properly structured call center actually works—and why it should be more than just a receptionist function.
A healthcare call center can:
Confirm insurance eligibility and benefits
Schedule and confirm appointments
Coordinate transportation for patients
Help with pre-authorizations
Provide assisted transfers, so patients aren’t just left with a voicemail
In one real-world example, Trinexus supported a care network where fewer than 50% of calls were being answered. Within just a week of deploying a small trained team, over 80% of calls were answered, and patient satisfaction jumped 40%.
Weekly call volume also dropped from 700 to 400, because nearly 45% of the calls were repeated attempts by people who hadn’t gotten through the first time.
This wasn’t just a technical fix. It was a transformation in how the system listens and responds.
The Educational Case for a Call Center Strategy
So, what’s really at stake here? A lot.
For Hospitals:
7% abandonment = up to $45,000/day in lost revenue (Dialog Health, 2024)
Average hold time is 4.4 minutes, while the industry benchmark is just 50 seconds (RevCycleIntelligence, 2021)
Poor communication can lead to patient dissatisfaction and switching providers (66% in 2024, up from 51% in 2023) (Hit Consultant, 2024)
For Health Insurance Providers:
Low call satisfaction = low CAHPS scores, which affect Star Ratings and reimbursements
Poor call handling contributes to member churn, especially in Medicare Advantage
Call centers can help keep members in-network and compliant with benefits
For Patients:
Transportation barriers are responsible for 25 percent or more of missed clinic appointments (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2023)
3.6 million Americans annually skip or delay medical care because of transportation barriers (American Hospital Association, 2017)
With live follow-ups and reminders, no-shows can drop from 21% to 7% (Sequence Health, 2023; NIH, 2020)
When someone answers the phone and actually helps? That’s care coordination in action.
Not Tracking Calls? You’re Not Alone—But That’s the First Problem
Let’s be real: most hospitals and insurance providers aren’t tracking call data effectively.
They often don’t know:
How many calls are coming in
How many go unanswered or are dropped
Average hold times
Or how often people must call multiple times to get help
If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it. This is where a partner like Trinexus becomes essential—more than a vendor, we become part of your operational strength.
What You Can Start Doing Right Now:
Find out who’s answering your phones and what happens when they don’t
Spot pain points: Are patients frequently transferred? Left on hold too long?
Track patterns: Are appointment slots going unfilled? Are patients calling again and again?
What We Offer:
Clear metrics on call performance: answer rates, hold times, call volume, repeat calls
Assisted transfers to ensure no patient is lost in voicemail loops
Prompt follow-up workflows for missed contacts
Transportation coordination, benefits checking, and real-time support
A seamlessly integrated extension of your internal teams—without adding internal burden
In short, we help you see what’s happening, fix what’s broken, and deliver care in a way that’s actually accessible.
References
American Hospital Association. (2017). Transportation and the role of hospitals: Social determinants of health series. https://www.aha.org/ahahret-guides/2017-11-15-social-determinants-health-series-transportation-and-role-hospitals
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2023). VBID Model: Transportation Supplemental Benefit Use Case. https://www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/media/document/vbid-cy2023-transportation-use-case
Dialog Health. (2024). Latest Healthcare Call Center Statistics: Must-Know for 2025. https://www.dialoghealth.com/post/healthcare-call-center-statistics
Hit Consultant. (2024, July 23). 69% of healthcare consumers will switch providers if communications don’t meet expectations. https://hitconsultant.net/2024/07/23/69-of-healthcare-consumers-will-switch-providers-if-communications-dont-meet-expectations
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2023). Medicaid Benefits: Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Services. https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/non-emergency-medical-transportation-services/
National Institutes of Health. (2020). Use of mobile text messaging to reduce missed appointments. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 26(3), 172–178. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7275322/
RevCycleIntelligence. (2021). Patients wait too long on hold, lose trust in providers. https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/patients-wait-too-long-on-hold-lose-trust-in-providers
Sequence Health. (2023). Reducing missed appointments through strategic reminders. https://sequencehealth.com/blog/reducing-missed-appointments