Multi-Practice Medical Association Saves Time & Decreases Telecom Spend by Over 30%
Client
An association of 40+ doctors’ practices in the metro-Boston area. The doctors are all associated with the local community hospital and cover a wide range of internist and specialty practices.
The client was receiving limited help with billing and service issues from their local phone provider. They believed that they were being over-billed, but when they called the service provider or asked to speak with their sales representative, they were told that all requests must be sent through the provider’s online portal. At one point, several of their large practices lost the ability to dial long distance and their service provider seemed unable to remedy the situation. They were missing a personal touch. It was at this point that the client engaged Aldie Boggs, their ARG trusted technology advisor, for guidance.
Challenge
In addition to billing issues, the client was struggling to effectively communicate with their patients due to repair and long-distance issues stemming from their telecom provider. Because the client consists of many separate practices, repair tickets and overall communication between the provider and the 40+ different offices was challenging. The client knew that if they didn’t make a change soon, they would continue to face significant financial impacts: the hard costs associated with the phone line charges and the soft costs associated with tying up limited staff resources.
Solution
After several meetings with different groups within the different practices, ARG analyzed all current bills and reviewed the best alternative carriers. ARG returned to the client with a recommendation to replace their existing technology with a more customer-focused provider under ARG management. This change would improve their billing process and overall support experience. The client saw significant value and decided to move forward with ARG’s recommended solution. To minimize the impact to the clients’ medical practices, implementation occurred over a phased, 3-month period. Additional practices continue to be added as needs arise.
Results
ARG was able to transform the clients’ experience in resolving telecommunications issues, both billing and support, and provide local resources for each of their doctors’ practices. The solution allows practice managers to concentrate on running their facilities and reduce their frustrations and time spent on “managing the phone company!” Additionally, ARG reduced the client’s risk of being out of service due to the provider’s failure to communicate with the client.
Aldie Boggs, their senior technology advisor, is thrilled with what has been accomplished so far. “ARG’s focus has always been to make IT effortless and cost-effective for our clients,” she commented, “It was wonderful to be able to deliver that value and free a client up to focus on more strategic initiatives such as cloud-based tools and integrations to improve staff efficiency and patient experience.”
Conclusion
In the end, ARG consolidated all billing into a single, easy-to-use portal. ARG also fulfilled the clients’ request for a personal touch by providing resources to local practices to ensure accurate and attentive service. By engaging ARG, the client alleviated the pain associated with managing their telecom services and realized cost savings of 31%.
If you’d like this kind of experience for your telecom or technology services, please call ARG at 703-770-2400 or email info@myarg.com.