From Idle to Agile

Tracking idle time refers to the hours agents spend logged into their contact center platform but not actively engaging with inquiries. High idle time indicates inefficiency, while lower idle time points to a well-utilized workforce.

For payers, reducing idle time ensures that providers — especially those participating in government programs — receive timely and accurate support. Optimizing agent productivity not only minimizes operational waste but also strengthens relationships with providers by improving their overall experience.

Initial Challenge

Our client is a major healthcare payer organization who handles thousands of calls every month from government program providers alone. At the beginning of the year, their contact center reported an average of 81.93 idle hours per representative in January.

The high idle time created multiple challenges:

• Increased Operational Costs: Excess idle hours resulted in higher labor expenses without proportional gains in productivity.
• Underutilized Workforce: Idle agents increased costs without delivering corresponding value.
• Provider Dissatisfaction: Delays in support led to frustration among providers, impacting their experience and potentially jeopardizing the payer-provider relationship.

Faced with these challenges, the payer engaged Clarity Performance Solutions to help reduce idle time and optimize the productivity of their workforce.

Action Plan

Clarity partnered with the payer to implement several targeted solutions:

• Dynamic Staffing Adjustments: We introduced real-time monitoring to align agent availability with call volumes, preventing unnecessary downtime.
• Cross-Training for Agents: Agents were cross-trained to support multiple provider types, ensuring they remained productive across different inquiry types.
• Idle Time Monitoring and Real-Time Feedback: Supervisors were equipped with tools to monitor idle time trends and provide instant feedback to agents, creating awareness and promoting proactive engagement.

These changes were rolled out in the first month of our partnership, resulting in major improvements within the first month of implementation.

The reduction in idle time yielded several key benefits including:

• Improved Provider Experience: Providers received quicker resolutions, reducing the need for follow-up calls and enhancing their satisfaction with the payer’s service.
• Lower Operational Costs: Optimized agent utilization led to measurable cost savings across the contact center.
• Enhanced Workforce Engagement: With agents staying more productive throughout their shifts, morale improved, and turnover rates decreased.

*Idle time hours, average per month: January 81.93, February 58.61, March, 47.70, April 56.58, May, 52.60, June 41.39, July 46.17, August 43.34, September 42.61.