Press Release
Press Information
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
24 Jan 2007
For additional information, contact
Catherine Nowocien, 716-835-5041
copc@graytoncompany.com
HealthNow New York Continues to Qualify as Among Best in Customer Service Center Performance
Williamsville, NY – Customer Operations Performance Center Inc. (COPC Inc.), global experts in contact center excellence, announces that HealthNow New York Inc. has achieved re-certification to the COPC-20007® CSP Standard Release 4.0 for Customer Service Providers at both of its inbound customer service contact centers.
HealthNow New York Inc., which does business as BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York, has customer service centers in Buffalo and Albany that handle inbound customer service in all media.
The COPC-2000® CSP Standard is the first and only certification process designed specifically for the needs of contact centers. It was developed in 1996 by individuals from customer-focused companies who were concerned with the level of service quality provided by Customer Service Providers (CSPs). As a world-class benchmark of productivity and efficiency for customer contact operations, it is used in several hundred locations in more than 50 countries to improve performance, reduce costs, and increase customer satisfaction.
Once a CSP attains certification to the COPC-2000® CSP Standard, they must undergo extensive and rigorous annual operational and performance evaluations conducted by COPC Inc. in order to maintain COPC® Certification status. The HealthNow New York centers first attained COPC® Certification in 1999 and have successfully qualified for COPC® Re-certification every year since. The high level of performance excellence demonstrated by each of these operations, as measured by the COPC® Re-certification Audit, confirms the continuing commitment to quality and customer service maintained by HealthNow.
"We are very pleased about maintaining our certification to the COPC-2000® CSP Standard," said Pauline Cataldi, HealthNow’s senior vice president, Commercial Programs Customer Service & Claims Operations. "It is a reflection of our continuing efforts to deliver the best possible service to our members and providers, and our ongoing efforts to exceed their expectations. We are particularly proud of the fact that we had zero non-conformances during the COPC® Re-certification Audits, which is particularly difficult in the complex world of healthcare insurance. Those who are familiar with the rigorous requirements of the COPC-2000® CSP Standard know that this not an easy accomplishment."
As a result of the COPC® Certification Process, the HealthNow’s contact centers have achieved sustainable improvements in key areas including revenue, service, cost, quality, and customer satisfaction.
Revenue: 110% Return on Investment (ROI) on COPC® Certification initiatives
- Service: 76% increase in Service Level
- Service: 100% improvement in number of Calls Handled per CSR
- Cost/Profitability: 59% reduction in Cost per Claim Processed
- Cost/Profitability: 35% decrease in Average Handle Time
- Quality: 12% improvement in First Call Resolution
- Quality: 15% improvement in Contact Center Accuracy
- Customer Satisfaction: 24% improvement in Group Benefit
- Administrator Satisfaction
- Customer Satisfaction: 12% improvement in Customer Service Satisfaction
"For HealthNow, the COPC- 2000® CSP Standard addresses every aspect of a first-rate customer contact center with best practices that span the entire organization," said Peter Bloom, president and co-founder, COPC Inc. "They can be proud of their continued high-level of performance reflected in both improved customer satisfaction and dollars saved."
About HealthNow New York Inc.
HealthNow New York Inc. does business as BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York, BlueShield of Northeastern New York, HealthNow in Central New York, and operates a Medicare claims processing division. Headquartered in Buffalo, NY, HealthNow is one of the Northeast’s leading healthcare companies with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion.
BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and BlueShield of Northeastern New York is an independent Licensee of the BlueCross BlueShield Association.
About COPC Inc.
Customer Operations Performance Center Inc. (COPC Inc.) is the world’s leading authority on operations management and performance improvement for buyers and providers of customer contact center and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. The COPC® Performance Management System includes operational certification programs, operational management training, Six Sigma in contact centers, performance improvement consulting, and vendor sourcing and management services.
Since 1996, COPC Inc. has helped organizations in more than 50 countries drive results averaging two to five times Return on Investment (ROI) with a payback of less than one year. These results are achieved by leveraging the COPC® Family of Standards, the industry’s first performance management and certification system which, today, remains the most rigorous and only high performance set of global best practices and performance metrics that simultaneously increase customer satisfaction and profitability.
Global clients include Accenture, Apple, BT Group, Bertelsmann Arvato, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cable & Wireless, Citigroup, Convergys, Genpact, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft, NTT, Sony, Telefónica, Telstra, and Wipro.