Telephone and Appointment Access for 2011

Telephone Access

For 2011, the annual goal of 30 seconds for average speed of answer and of 5 % for the rate of abandoned calls were met with respective results of an average 20 second speed of answer and a 4 % rate for abandonment calls. There was a statistically significant improvement in both rates when compared to performance in 2010. Rates achieved goal all year, but improved in the last half of the year as the national Triage team for customer calls was transitioned to a single physical location under centralized management, with 5 additional staff. To improve staff availability to customers, professional and facility calls are received by a separate staff team on a different phone line. Cigna continues to view telephonic access is a critical component of service and will continue to monitor performance carefully in the 2012.

Appointment Access

Appointment access is a critical aspect of service and a strong predictor of overall customer satisfaction. Cigna defines standards for Routine, Urgent, and Emergent care access using appointment timeframes that are consistent with clinical presentation. Performance against annual goals for access to Routine (80%) and Urgent (85%) care appointments, used survey of customer satisfaction data, while internal data from Cigna Information Systems are used to assess Urgent (95%) and Emergent (100%) appointment access. In 2011, goals were met only for the Emergent measure derived from Cigna's Information System. The volume of customer complaints regarding appointment access remained low in 2011. Customers may access routine care with contracted network professionals independently, but customers may call Cigna for assistance in obtaining appointments. In 2011, Cigna consolidated and expanded its call answering team to a single location under centralized management. The benefits of that intervention may be seen in 2012.

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