Accenture develops innovative strategy to help streamline consumer experience

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) has been selected by the Boston Children's Hospital, a renowned teaching hospital, to develop an innovative strategy to help streamline the consumer experience, from scheduling an appointment to paying a bill.

"Not just medical, but all of our interactions with patients, their families and referring providers are critical to maintaining the highest standard of care," said Margaret Coughlin, chief marketing and communications officer of Boston Children's Hospital. "As a leading pediatric hospital, we are known for our outstanding clinical care, but we are also committed to ensuring that every interaction within our health system is effective, efficient and consistently positive."

Accenture will deliver a new business model that provides consumers with faster, easier access to physician appointments and a consistent experience across all departments. As part of the three-month project, Accenture will identify and streamline disparate billing processes to ensure effective customer service and improved revenue cycle efficiency across the physician organization.

"Patient satisfaction is critical to successful health outcomes - and satisfaction starts with the first phone call," said Dipak Patel, managing director of Accenture's patient access initiatives. "Patients who perceive gaps in customer service are at a higher risk of not remaining engaged in their care. Increasingly, patients are looking at measures beyond quality of care, such as convenience and value, for selecting their health provider."

Accenture's research shows the average wait time for physician appointments, complexity of scheduling, number of phone transfers and ability to resolve issues by phone play a major role in overall patient satisfaction. "Addressing these access-related issues is essential to maintaining and growing market share among the top pediatric hospitals both nationally and globally," added Patel.

Boston Children's Hospital, the primary pediatric teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, is a 365-bed comprehensive medical center for pediatric and adolescent healthcare.