Contact (Call) Center Associate Program

Admissions and Course Prerequisites:

All students entering AHDPG must submit or achieve the following:

• High School Diploma or the Equivalent, or Academic, Employer or Family Sponsorship.
• Complete the assessment associated with their respective program, as necessary.
• Maintain up-to-date information on the AHDPG Student Profile.

Program Overviews:

Customer service is typically at the heart of every business, especially for businesses that sell their products and services directly to customers such as healthcare. Even in healthcare business-to-business interactions, customer service is essential. There is just too much competition to ignore it or to fail to serve customers with excellence. The healthcare contact center is a department in a healthcare business or organization that manages customer interactions through multiple channels and technologies. Contact center agents are tasked with solving customer problems, answering customer questions, and general meeting customer needs through effective communication and follow-through. This course provides learners with foundational contact center knowledge and skills so that they can pursue their customer service careers.

Healthcare contact center agents must understand the healthcare environment and the language of health care, including basic anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology. They must also understand the basics of common diseases and disorders, especially chronic conditions, to fully understand how to meet the needs of patients. Though agents never give medical advice, understanding basic healthcare topics is essential to healthcare system problem-solving. Additionally, healthcare contact center representatives must understand healthcare laws, insurance basics, billing and reimbursement, basic psychological aspects of aging and illness, and how to use computers and customer relations management (CRM) technologies.

Course Outcomes:

• At the end of this course, students will be able to:
• Dissect a medical term to determine its meaning.
• Define basic anatomical and physiological terminology related to each body system.
• Define common diseases and disorders related to each body system.
• Identify common health and health care beliefs and values.
• Discuss the health care delivery systems in the U.S. Including their challenges and benefits.
• Identify healthcare services, professionals, and settings.
• Identify the components and processes of the retail pharmacy.
• Explain common health services for special populations.
• Discuss medical law and ethics.
• Explain how to maintain compliance with HIPAA.
• Explain how health care services are financed and paid for.
• Discuss medical data, the healthcare record, and supporting technologies.
• Define high-quality technical customer support.
• Explain the basic role of the contact center in business and excellent customer service.
• Describe the unique needs of different types of customers.
• Explain the role and expectations of the contact center agent.
• Use multiple technologies and communication channels in customer communication. Effectively handle numerous types of difficult customers and situations.
• Effectively apply problem-solving and critical thinking concepts to customer care.
• Apply sales strategies when the opportunity arises in customer communication.
• Explain basic business concepts needed as foundational knowledge for meeting customer needs.
• Discuss the current trends and issues related to various aspects of contact center operation and success.
• Complete a self-evaluation of personal traits and communication skills related to successful contact center communication and customer care.
• Identify psychological factors, theories, and concepts that can be used to understand the healthcare patient/customer to provide the best customer service possible.

Grading Scale:

A minimum grade average of 70% is required to proceed from one course/subject module within the Coding and Billing program to the next course/subject module.

The composition of grades, including applicable categories of assignments and associated weights varies by subject module and can be found in the individual course syllabuses.

Tuition and Fees:

Tuition fee: $850.00
Books, Materials, and Technology Fee: $495.00 (nonrefundable)
Administrative Fee: $50.00 (nonrefundable)

Other Fees:

• 3% Convenience Fee (nonrefundable). Waived for direct bank draft payments.
• Extension Fee: Students requiring more time in the program than originally allocated will incur an Extension Fee. The Extension Fee will be assessed at $195 per month for students who pay up front for their program or the monthly payment for students on the monthly payment plan.
• Missed Payment/Return Payment Fee: A $40 fee will be charged for each missed or returned payment.
• Readmission Fee: A student who leaves a program and consequently requests readmission will incur a Readmission Fee of $200.00.
• Transcript Fee: A fee of $15 will be charged for each transcript requested.

Completion Requirements:

Academics – A minimum score of 70% is required for graduation.

Remediation – The facilitator will work with any student who seems to be struggling to achieve and maintain a minimum course average of 70%. Any student who is in danger of not achieving the 70% required to pass the to the next semester will be counseled by the instructor and a plan for Student Improvement will be written. This plan will be placed in the student’s official file.