Efficient, timely customer service is a crucial element of success for medical aid administrators operating in the extremely competitive South African market. Today`s customers are very mobile and a bad service experience could easily convince them to take their business to one of many other administrators in the market. For corporate scheme administrators, this could mean losing thousands of clients instantaneously.
To ensure its service levels are continually of the highest quality, Sizwe Medical Fund has implemented an in-sourced document imaging solution from document and records management specialist Metrofile to improve its response times to customer queries.
Founded in 1978 to provide healthcare solutions to black members who were not adequately provided for under the traditional medical schemes, Sizwe has since grown to become one of the largest open schemes in SA.
Its products are tailor-made to take cognisance of SA`s racial and cultural diversity. Understanding the needs of all sectors of society and generating new ideas based on that understanding has been its strength as healthcare requirements have evolved over time. It supports 169 000 members, of whom 63 000 are principal members.
To ensure it delivers service of the highest quality in the shortest time possible, Sizwe contracted Metrofile to implement and run an in-house document imaging solution for its claims and member information divisions. Debbie de Jager, systems administrator at Cheiron Health Technologies, the technical project leader for the document imaging programme, says Sizwe was swamped with paper in all areas of its business and this often led to customers submitting queries and waiting too long for resolution as staff searched for the relevant documents.
"The ability to answer members` queries to their satisfaction is dependent on staff being able to find the relevant documentation quickly," De Jager says. "Instead of receiving a query and then initiating a paper chase to find the client`s file and possibly any documents not in the file, Sizwe decided it would be simpler to scan all incoming documentation and respond to client requests instantly by calling up an image of the documents when needed."
As document management is not Sizwe`s core competency, it therefore opted for an in-house Metrofile scanning bureau. Ann Taylor, the Metrofile consultant, explains: "Metrofile has implemented an in-sourced document imaging system in Sizwe`s Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth offices. Metrofile supplies the scanning hardware, software and the staff to meet the medical aid administrator`s requirements."
Membership information and claims are scanned into the system as they arrive at Sizwe`s offices and are indexed via the membership number. A total of 1.5 million documents have been scanned since the system was implemented, with 110 000 new documents being processed each month.
The company`s call centre operators can instantly call up all claims and membership information documents to their PC screens when a client calls in, enabling them to service the client while they are on the phone.
Shamla Moodley, Sizwe`s membership manager, says staff productivity in dealing with customer queries has soared since the imaging solution was installed. "We previously tried to use microfilm as a storage mechanism for our documents, but this also proved to have a lengthy retrieval process. Microfilm can also be lost, damaged or misfiled, adding to the time taken to close a client query."
De Jager adds that there are no longer any documents lost in the process or at the bottom of someone`s in-tray as the paper documents are stored offsite by Metrofile as soon as they have been scanned and assessed. In a separate deal, the company`s IT backups are also stored in an offsite vault by Metrofile.
Mpumi Shihlomulo, assessing manager at Sizwe, says staff were receptive to the idea of the document imaging solution from the start as they realised the productivity gains it could deliver in their daily jobs. "After some teething problems to get the system running smoothly, they are 100% behind it: In the claims department we are definitely more productive and able to resolve customer queries faster since the system was installed."
In fact, Moodley adds that support for the solution has been so positive that Sizwe is planning on expanding its document imaging to include other areas of the business, such as customer correspondence and reconciled statements.
"Once that phase is complete, we are considering implementing a workflow solution to allow us to control the flow of documents through the whole administration process," De Jager notes. "In the medical aid administration business we welcome any productivity gains or improvements we can make to customer service as there are many competitors out there waiting to welcome our customers if we don`t take care of them."
Sizwe`s growth over the years has occurred in concert with the company`s focus on providing its customers with innovative products and quality service. The document imaging solution from Metrofile is the first step in ensuring the company`s 300-plus staff members make the best use of their time and deliver fast, efficient service as the norm.
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Metrofile is the South African market leader in the management of business content, and is committed to help customers reduce costs and improve productivity in processes that are centred on documents and corporate records.
All companies have a combination of paper and electronic documents, and are forced by law and customer requirements to secure the availability of the documents for the duration of their lifecycle. For most organisations, the volume of documents is growing at an exponential rate, and is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
Metrofile, which also has an international presence, is uniquely positioned to provide consulting and implementation of full lifecycle paper and electronic records management solutions from storage and conversion through to destruction.
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