Tell us about your role at Healthcode?

I lead the Business Development team that looks after ePractice, our practice management software (PMS) for healthcare businesses. We’ve recently grown and have more roles to fill.

The team is structured to deliver great service and the best solution for all types of customers, from contacting existing users to ensure their ePractice plan still meets their needs, to exploring the features and functionality of ePractice with new entrants to the market. 

Everyone looks after their own area but I’m always there in the background to provide guidance and support.

How does your experience of working in the private healthcare sector help you in your job?

2024 marks my 30^th year working in private healthcare and I think that my PMS experience is useful for the team.

I’ve met a lot of people in our sector over the years and kept in touch with them as they’ve progressed through their careers. Technology might have reduced the need for people to do business face-to-face but building those long-term professional relationships is still key to our consultative approach. Rather than the hard sell, we prefer to have conversations with customers about how their practice is going, try to solve problems with them and ultimately work together to move their practice forwards.

Can you give an example of how you and your team are able to make a difference for customers?

It’s surprising how many people you can help by simply making them aware of just one feature.

For example, when practices have invoice problems it often comes down to the fact that the patient’s membership number is missing or incorrect which means the invoice can’t be validated. That’s frustrating and time consuming to resolve but we’ve had a clever online shortcut for years called Membership Enquiry. Available in our ePractice Lite and Pro plans, it lets customers check patients’ details against the insurer database, in just a few clicks.  

When customers discover Membership Enquiry through one of my team, it’s usually a game-changer, enabling them to get their invoices right first time, without having to spend hours on the phone with the insurer or patient.

How does your team ensure that ePractice continues to meet the needs of customers?

We sit in between customers and the development team who are currently rewriting ePractice from the bottom up and we help channel the useful/great feedback we get.

I recently helped run the pilot for the new Appointments section, inviting customers to join and helping ensure we had a good mix of independent practitioners, medical secretaries, hospitals and clinics to reflect the different ways the PMS might be used. Once participants were onboard, I took them through a demo before switching them over to the new interface, although we purposely avoided giving too much detail because we wanted to find out how intuitive the new version was. During the pilot, we’d share feedback with the developers and also sent out a more structured questionnaire at the end, to make sure we captured everything.

The end result is a brilliant new diary feature with a bright, user-friendly interface and far more functionality than before. However, it’s just the beginning for ePractice and we’re looking forward to the next stage of our exciting journey.

What’s next for ePractice and what are you most excited to show customers?

Now we have the fundamentals in place, we’ll be rolling out the next sections step-by-step. We’re in the process of rewriting the patient management section and we’re also expanding the PMS including the clinical pathways tool and prescribing capabilities.

Customers can expect more tweaks and features for Appointments. They’ll also soon have the ability to publish their diary session to ICE, our secure online booking, enabling them to reach a much wider audience.

It’s brilliant to see each area of ePractice being released with rebranding and the latest technology to really drive the system forward. After all the hard work, it feels like we’re on the brink of something big.

What do you enjoy most about working at Healthcode?

The feeling of optimism. We’ve achieved so much over the last few years – especially with the move to the latest technology platforms – and the sky’s the limit.

It’s also great that private practice itself is booming, as you can see from the volume of claims that are going through the Clearing Service at the moment. After all, that’s what we’re about – helping the whole sector grow and prosper.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

I love Formula 1 so I always tune in when it’s on TV. I should support Red Bull as I was born and bred in Milton Keynes but I’m a big fan of Sir Lewis Hamilton and another British driver coming through called Lando Norris. It’s a passion I share with our MD , Peter Connor – I think we’d both love to be racing cars for a living.

Another dream that I’ve long shared with my wife is to have a house with a bit of land. That wasn’t possible where we lived before so we’ve just moved to a cottage in rural Lincolnshire. We’re planning to keep chickens and pigs in the future – the 1970’s show The Good Life is our inspiration. 

The post Meet Our Team | Kingsley Hollis appeared first on Healthcode.

Tell us about your role and main responsibilities?

I joined the company in 2023 and have just been promoted to the brand-new post of HR Executive. As it’s a small team, this is quite a broad role which includes admin such as maintaining staff contracts, as well as being the point of contact for day-to-day enquiries. I also manage inductions for new starters, put together training plans and I’ll sit in on the initial stages of the recruitment process to provide an HR perspective. The aim is to ensure every new starter has all they need to settle in quickly so they can meet their potential.

How do you hope to make a difference for staff?

Communication is paramount to our employees, but it’s just as important that we listen to them and take their feedback on board with things like regular engagement surveys and our suggestion box.

While we’ve been through a lot of change in recent years (and we’re still growing), we need to maintain good staff morale and keep the special atmosphere that’s been key to our success. A large part of that is ensuring people feel their views count and they’re being well looked after so they enjoy their time at work.

What qualities does someone need to join Healthcode and how would you describe the team?

We don’t have the formal culture you’ll often find in big corporates so we really value employees who are self-starters, integrate well and are happy to collaborate with others across the different teams.

In my experience, we have a lovely bunch of people and everyone is friendly and happy to help. I really don’t think anyone would turn you away if you needed advice or help with something.

That spirit of collaboration is definitely something we encourage as a company through things like our quarterly company days which bring everyone together to hear about the latest developments, celebrate our successes and enjoy each other’s company.

How does your work have an impact on customers?

Although I’m not in a customer-facing role, I’m always impressed when I see members of our Customer Services team in action because they’re always so polite and helpful to users. You can see everyone is passionate about doing a good job and that translates into the quality of their work.

The HR team can’t take the credit for their performance but we do contribute to things like recruitment, training and maintaining a healthy and supportive company culture. So we can help staff do their best for customers, we aim to create the conditions where they feel happy and enjoy their work.

What do you enjoy most about working here?

I love the people – everyone is friendly from the get-go – and the office space is very bright, open and welcoming so it’s a pleasure to go into work. I’m also a big fan of the company meetings I mentioned earlier because they’re really informative, fun and are a chance to talk with people that you might not see every day. I know we all really appreciate how much effort goes into making the day a success, from the presentations to the team building and social side and it’s part of what makes Healthcode a great place to work.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

My very energetic Cocker Spaniel keeps me entertained and also requires plenty of walks. I’m an avid reader, especially thrillers by authors like Freida McFadden although the Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman is my top recommendation. I’m also getting married next October and there’s a lot to be done so my brain is currently going into wedding planner mode as soon as I get home.

The post Meet Our Team | Sophie Edwards appeared first on Healthcode.

Give us an overview of your role at Healthcode?

My job is to ensure my team can provide high standards of service throughout all our interactions with customers. With the introduction of multi-channel support, users can now contact us through live chat, email or by phone and it’s down to us to respond promptly and resolve or escalate queries appropriately so they have the best possible experience.

Ultimately, we’re here to represent Healthcode so it’s important that everyone has the knowledge, communication skills and enthusiasm to help customers and be an asset to the company.

How do you support your team?

I’m responsible for the training, development and support of customer services agents so we meet our performance objectives. For example, I have monthly 1-2-1 sessions with every member of my team where they can talk about their day-to-day interactions with customers and discuss feedback. It’s a good opportunity to identify recurring issues that need to be addressed or any other ways we can make things better.

When someone joins the team, I’ll arrange for them to sit with senior agents during their training and listen into live calls to get first-hand experience of what’s involved and the expected standard. It’s the nature of what we do that some queries can be quite complex and can’t be resolved there and then: what’s important is that our agents explain this and keep customers updated on progress.

What sorts of queries do the team deal with?

Customers tend to contact us most when they’re having difficulties with invoice submission. That could be for several reasons such as the incorrect membership number or if the practitioner isn’t recognised. We’ll explain and help them resolve these issues and even help them register with The PPR so they can apply for recognition with insurers like AXA, Aviva or Vitality.

Our new customer relationship management (CRM) system means we can create a unique case number to keep track of the progress for each query. If we have to escalate something, we’ll inform the customer and give them the case number as a reference and follow up with an email. Unlike those frustrating ‘do not reply’ messages that companies sometimes send, our customers can just hit reply if they need to contact us about an ongoing query and view the email thread if they want to check something.

What’s the next step for your CRM system?

We want to continue making things better for customers so we’re going to look at all the interactions – phone calls, email and live chat. This info will give us a deeper understanding of the most common issues they face and allow us to focus on improvements to address these.

What do you love about working in Customer Services at Healthcode?

I love being part of a team where we’re all free to express ourselves. It’s not like a generic call centre in a big company where you go in every morning and spend the day doing one thing. I think everyone in the team feels like their voice is important, that they can raise issues and see something done.

Our Director of Service, Daniel Byrne sits with us in the office and it’s not the kind of hierarchical culture where you must report up the corporate ladder if you have concerns – everyone’s door is open.

I’m in no doubt however that the biggest thing is making a difference for customers. There’s been so many times when a customer has been delighted because one of my team has helped them out and they’ve taken time out to write a review on Google or Trustpilot saying how great the service was – it’s a real morale boost.

Can you give us an example?

On one occasion, I assisted an anxious user who really wanted insurer recognition but said they didn’t have time to complete The PPR registration. I took the call, was able to reassure them and we went through the registration process together. They later gave a positive review saying how grateful they were for our support and it wasn’t as daunting as they had feared. I also flagged this call to my colleagues and our development team are now working to improve the registration experience for future PPR applications.

What’s been your proudest moment?

Customer Services is one of the busiest teams in the company because we’re on the frontline when new products and features are released such as Appointments in ePractice, as well as helping customers when they have an issue. With that in mind, I’m proud that my team continually exceed expectations when it comes to hitting our response targets and getting positive feedback.

From a personal perspective, being awarded Manager of the Year was a real highlight of 2023, especially as this is my first management role after stepping up in March 2023. I was pleased with how I adapted to the demands of the job and for that to be recognised by the company was an added bonus

And finally, what do you like doing outside work?

It’s all about new beginnings for me as I got married recently and I’m spending as much time as I can with my wife. Having said that, I generally find the best way to unwind after a stressful day is to go to the gym and get stuck into some weight training!

Away from the bench press, I also like to socialise with the rest of my team. Last year was a hectic time at work which made me realise how important it was for us all to have ‘time-out’ away from the office, whether that’s a night at Topgolf or a lovely meal. As well as being great for team building, it’s a chance for us to make friendships outside work and have some fun.

The post Meet Our Team | Taran Saroya appeared first on Healthcode.

Tell us about your job at Healthcode?

I’m part of the team that focuses on ePractice, our online practice management solution. This involves talking to practitioners, clinics and hospitals about their needs and explaining how we can help them.  

I have conversations with different kinds of businesses across the private healthcare sector – the benefits of ePractice apply to everyone, as it has the tools and features to address the particular issues they’re facing. One time I might be talking with a practitioner and the next time it might be a medical secretary or someone from a hospital. 

Looking after existing customers is another important aspect of my role as it’s vitally important they get top-notch customer service and appropriate support when necessary.

What do you love about your work and how have you been able to make a difference for customers?

It’s a pleasure to work with healthcare businesses and contribute to their success with a powerful solution like ePractice which can help take their business to the next level.

Although a lot of customers first approach us because they want to use our Clearing Service to securely submit and validate invoices to insurers, that’s just the start. In my experience, the three features that people are most enthusiastic about are: Online Payments which enables them to invoice self-payers and manage shortfalls; Payment Tracking which helps them stay on top of their cashflow; and membership enquiry which allows them to check a patient’s health insurance policy online, rather than calling the insurer. It’s a magical tool when you consider that invalid or incorrect policy numbers are the biggest reason for invoices failing.

It’s really satisfying to feel I’ve made a difference. For example, I spoke to a practice that had been losing money through bad debt which had been accumulated by self-payers and unpaid shortfall reallocations. We discussed how the payment tracking features of ePractice Lite, in combination with Online Payments, could address these issues moving forward. After following this recommendation, they stopped losing revenue and were able to see what was outstanding and retrieve a fair portion of the outstanding debt which made them – and me – very happy.

What Healthcode solution are you currently most excited about?

I’m really looking forward to telling customers more about our ground-breaking ICE platform which will make real-time appointment booking a reality for the healthcare sector. I’m also excited about our new-look diary feature – Appointments – which is available across all our plans for the first time. I’ve already had really positive feedback from customers about the layout and functionality but the best part is that Appointments will soon be integrated with ICE so they’ll be able to share information about their availability and increase their visibility to patients and insurers for bookings.

Who has been the biggest influence on your career so far?

I think our Director of Operations, Jenny Murray is an amazing person to work with and a great morale booster. I’ve been inspired by the interactions I’ve had with her and appreciate how she’s helped me in my role.

How do you hope your customers and colleagues would describe you?

I think they’d probably say I’m quite a jovial fellow – I often make them laugh. I hope they’d also say that I was trustworthy and a team player.

And finally, what do you enjoy doing outside work?

I’m really into reading and love getting stuck into a good novel. My favourite stories are mysteries and thrillers – anything with an unexpected twist in the tale. I also enjoy learning languages. I’m half Chinese and I’ve become interested in studying Cantonese and Mandarin in the last year. As well as using the Duolingo app which is very addictive, I’ve found some really insightful teachers on YouTube and it’s great having all these resources at my fingertips which weren’t available when I was growing up. I’m really looking forward to travelling somewhere like Hong Kong or Malaysia at some point so I can practise.

The post Meet Our Team | Bernard Lim appeared first on Healthcode.

Tell us about your role at Healthcode – what’s involved?

I help with the onboarding of new customers, such as new subscribers to our ePractice plans, as well as software vendors or insurers that want to integrate with our services.

I run 1-2-1 tutorials with new subscribers to get them up and running. These tend to be longer sessions where we go through everything that they need to get set up on the system whereas my Healthcode Academy colleagues offer shorter modules focusing on particular areas like electronic invoicing and collection.

Can you give examples of the kinds of things you help customers with?

Besides online training, an example would be when new software vendors want to integrate with Healthcode for services like Clearing. I’ll provide technical support to the development teams to make sure that their system works with ours, for example checking that the interface works seamlessly and ensuring the data they’re sending us meets the requirements for insurer validation.

What qualities do you bring to the job?

I’d like to think I’m a bit of a knowledge sponge. I was on an NHS IT helpdesk before joining Healthcode’s Customer Services team in 2016. Since then, I’ve been given the opportunity to work in different departments within the business and have been part of the Service Delivery team since 2022. I’ve tried to soak up as much knowledge as I can from my experiences. When a problem does come up, I’ll often remember dealing with something similar or I’ll know the best person to ask because they’ve helped me out before.

What do you like about your job?

I enjoy the investigation side of things as I never know what might come up. When someone comes to me with a problem, I like taking on the challenge of trying to figure out what’s happened and find a solution.

It’s a great feeling when I finally get to the bottom of an ongoing issue. That thanks I get from the customer and knowing that I’ve done a good job for them is really satisfying.

What’s the number 1 tip you’d like to pass onto new Healthcode customers?

Keep asking questions. If you don’t know how to do something there’s loads of resources on the Help and Support section of the website, 1-2-1 tutorials on Healthcode Academy or you can ask our great Customer Services team. There’ll always be someone willing to help.

What future Healthcode products are you excited to share with customers?

At the moment I’m especially excited to tell them about ICE, our new real-time appointment booking solution which is already causing a buzz within the sector. Essentially, we’ve created an integrated channel exchange that allows healthcare providers to share information about their services and free booking slots with anyone who wants to access them. It’s going to revolutionise the booking process for our customers and their patients and I’ll be here to help them get on board.

What do you love about working at Healthcode?

It’s got to be the people I work with. When I joined eight years ago, I didn’t envisage that I would be here for so long but my colleagues have definitely played a big part in that. I’ve always been part of a great team which I really enjoy and we help each other. I also know who my go-to colleagues are when I’m not sure.

How would your colleagues describe you?

I’d like to think that they find me approachable and that usually I know the answer to a question. If someone in the team doesn’t know something, they’ll often ask me first.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

I’ve recently been planning my wedding with my other half, including our honeymoon in Rome and Florence. That’s been a really enjoyable but busy time but usually I love spending quality time at home, where I enjoy cooking, reading and playing video games. I’m also a big cinema fan so whenever I get the chance to watch a new release or revisit an old classic, you’ll find me there.

The post Meet Our Team | Christopher Gibbs appeared first on Healthcode.

Tell us about your current job and responsibilities?

I look after the Registrations and Coding team which works within Customer Operations. We deal with registrations and coding queries which are either transferred from Customer Services through the Salesforce system or sent directly by customers. At the moment, most registration forms are coming from practitioners who want to join The PPR (Private Practice Register).

As Team Manager, my job is to ensure we’re all hitting our service targets and resolving queries in a timely way. I’m also responsible for ensuring everyone is trained and upskilled and keeping them informed about developments within the business that have an impact on their role.

What sort of support do you provide to customers to help them get up and running?

Customers can sign up to our Clearing Service, The PPR or ePractice by completing a registration form on our website although they’ll soon be able to manage all their subscriptions online through their Healthcode Account. We then complete the registration process from our side.

My team can advise customers who are unsure which subscription level is most suitable for their business. We’ll also assist them with the registration process, whether that’s arranging a demo with someone from our Healthcode Academy team, answering queries if they get stuck, or ensuring they have all the necessary information to hand to speed up the process.

Why is it so important that customers use the right clinical codes on their invoices?

Our Clearing Service automatically checks that each invoice complies with the relevant insurer’s requirements, including the use of recognised codes. By using the correct clinical codes, customers can help ensure their invoices are submitted successfully first time and are ready to enter the insurer’s payment cycle.

What support can Healthcode give with coding issues?

It can be really frustrating for customers if an invoice fails so my team are on hand with help and advice. Where possible, we’ll try and resolve coding issues ourselves, such as helping to map a provider’s code associated with a billable item to the appropriate insurer code. At other times, customers need to contact the insurer directly, such as where a service code isn’t recognised. If that’s the case, we’ll inform them and direct them to the right contact as soon as possible. Just raise a coding query on our website and we’ll get in touch. 

What difference has Salesforce made to your part of the business?

It’s been a massive game changer. There’s a much smoother transition from Customer Services to the Coding and Registration teams because Salesforce gives us a full picture of the customer’s journey, such as who they’ve spoken to, what advice they’ve been given etc. That’s more efficient for us and much better for customers as we can respond in a timely manner and they don’t have to explain anything twice.  

It’s also far easier for me to monitor our performance against our targets as the dashboard shows what queries have been picked up and what’s outstanding. That visibility has helped us increase productivity and ensure we can deliver a high-quality service.

What has changed in the time you’ve been at Healthcode?

We’ve grown a lot bigger since I started in 2016 and we’re able to offer much more to our customers, thanks to our transformation programme and our expanding range of products and services. I’ve been here for the launch of The PPR, Healthcode Account, Salesforce and now ICE, our appointment booking solution and I’m excited to see what comes next. I think if we can achieve that much in seven years, what will our journey be like over the next seven?   

What do you enjoy most about working here?

When I joined a colleague said to me: “it sounds a bit of a cliché but we’re a family” and I feel that’s still true. As much as we’ve expanded, we’ve been able to keep that culture and I enjoy coming into the office each day so I can see everyone.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

I’ve a five-year-old daughter so I switch directly from work mode to mum mode. I’m always planning days out with her and try to keep the weekends quite exciting. She loves going for walks and arts and crafts, especially the messy stuff although I’ve definitely banned glitter now.  We also do some baking together – I remember we had to learn what to do with the inside of a pumpkin after carving them for Halloween.

The post Meet Our Team | Rebecca Hindhaugh appeared first on Healthcode.

What did you do before joining Healthcode?

I’ve spent my 30-year career in technology, starting as a software developer before moving into project management and service management and then more senior leadership roles. During that time, I’ve worked in a number of industries, from travel to housing to telecoms and insurance and now private healthcare. It’s been quite a challenge to get up to speed with all the terminology and acronyms but after six months I no longer feel like the new boy.  

Tell us about your current job and responsibilities?

Basically, it’s my job to look after all our IT systems and keep the lights on for customers and staff. That means ensuring that everyone can log onto the company network and access the applications they need to do their job well and making sure that our products and services are performing at their best for users and their patients. It’s a serious business because thousands of people depend on us so it’s critical that our systems are robust and reliable.

Have you been able to apply your experience in previous IT roles to your current job?

Our Transformation Programme has seen us adopt a different working methodology called DevOps and I’ve had experience of this transition in my previous roles. In the bad old days, what used to happen was that a development team would throw a new product to the operations team like a hot potato saying: ‘there you go, it’s your problem now’ and leave them struggling to implement it. The DevOps approach is to put these teams together so they can work hand-in-hand to develop a product that hits the brief from everyone’s perspective, most of all the customer.

The move to DevOps is a massive piece of work and we’re still on that journey. We’ve now created seven different teams to work on projects and an important part of my day-to-day job is bedding them in, getting the communications side working well and ensuring everyone understands what is expected of them.

I’ve also brought in strategies to help us make the most efficient use of Amazon Web Services which now host all our applications. As well as being more resilient, it’s much quicker and easier to build our solutions using the cloud platform but of course it’s equally important to actively keep track of projects and spending so that the final product is good value for our customers.

What projects are you working on just now?

We’ve targeted several big projects for delivery this year and I’m involved with several of these, alongside my work on DevOps. Once the coding work is complete, my job is to ensure the development is heading in the right direction and identify any pitfalls in the road ahead that we need to guard against. For example, I was focusing on ICE, our appointment booking solution, which involved building a dashboard allowing us to monitor how well the service is operating. We’ve already been getting a lot of interest from our customers but naturally they want to ensure that what we are doing is going to meet their needs and the dashboard will help answer these questions.  

IT security is a huge concern in healthcare – how do you reassure customers that their sensitive data is safe with Healthcode?

We’ve long been signed up to the Government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme and ISO 27001 information security standards which are important because they are awarded by independent organisations. We spend a lot of time and effort to ensure we maintain these certifications because they actually set us apart from some of the other players in this industry.

We also train staff in information security and data protection, alongside a rigorous testing programme to identify potential security weaknesses, such as our susceptibility to phishing attacks. We do this by regularly sending out test emails to everyone and seeing what they do – I actually had one of these myself this morning in my inbox and I’m pleased to say I successfully identified it and hit the Phish Alert button we’ve enabled in Outlook.

What do you enjoy most about working at Healthcode?

It’s a great bunch of people. At my previous company I was working in a large testing area within one department which wasn’t a very lively environment. It’s much more fun to work here where different parts of the business interact with each other and we can bounce ideas around.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

I’ve been investing in property for many years which keeps me busy although it’s not relaxing. For that I love to travel and I try to make a couple of trips each year with my family. As I’m originally from South Wales, I’m also a big rugby supporter and I was very excited to be able to go to Bordeaux for the first match in our Rugby World Cup campaign.

The post Meet Our Team | Tom Rees appeared first on Healthcode.

How long have you been working for Healthcode?

I started in 2015 as a Customer Services Agent and have since worked my way up through the business. I transferred to the Business Development team after about two and a half years to focus on our practice management system ePractice, before moving to the corporate side during the pandemic as a Business Development Manager working with insurers and hospitals. I was further promoted to Senior Business Development Manager in April 2023. 

Tell us more about your current role?

There are three main aspects to my job. The first is managing our day-to-day relationships with corporate accounts, including insurers, large hospitals groups and independent hospital providers. That means that beyond the usual process of contacting Customer Services, I’m the main contact for them here in case they have any priority issues that need to be resolved urgently, or anything that needs to be escalated.

The second part is to understand customers’ business operations and identify where our solutions can make a difference. As well as speaking regularly with invoicing department contacts, I also have monthly meetings and make site visits to update their tech and finance teams on new releases and present our development roadmap. A number of insurers and hospitals are looking at the technology side of their business right now which gives me an opportunity to discuss time-saving solutions like online Pre-Authorisation. I’m also getting out and about to talk about ICE, our integrated channel exchange that’s set to transform the booking process for private healthcare. We’ve just started final testing so it’s a great time for hospitals and insurers to get on board.

Last but not least, part of my role as a Senior Business Development Manager is to provide support and share my knowledge and experience with the rest of the Business Development team. I enjoy being able to help and support them where possible, especially when it comes to building their product knowledge so they can give the best advice to customers.

How do you make a difference for customers? Can you give an example?

I enjoy working with customers to resolve any ongoing issues they might have, whether that’s an internal pain point, or improving efficiency in certain processes. Being able to then help a customer with these areas by implementing one of our solutions gives me great satisfaction. For instance, I recently set up a trial of our Premium Service Package for a large hospital group because I thought they’d benefit from the additional functionality available. In the end, the upgrade proved to be a bit of a no-brainer from their perspective, and they’ve been able to reduce the amount of time and effort they need to spend on invoicing resulting in improved efficiency.

Another example is our Shortfall Collection Service which has been implemented by a few hospitals since we launched it and is currently generating a lot of interest. As soon as the solution has been discussed and presented it’s really clear to see the benefits it can have for a hospital, so they often can’t wait to have it in place. Those who’ve implemented it have seen an immediate impact because there’s no longer any need for them to spend time manually generating and sending invoices, letters and reminders, as the  service hugely automates the overall process.

What do you love about working for Healthcode?

The company culture here is great because everyone gets on and tries to help each other. Although we work in different teams, there’s no silo thinking – you can ask people from other teams to jump on a call and they’re quite happy. The career progression is good too. If you have the ambition and prove you’re capable then they’ll help you get where you want to be.

Most of all, it’s exciting to be part of a growing company that’s making a mark in our sector. When I joined, we were all crammed into a small office in Staines but we’ve made so much progress since then. Our new offices may be just down the road but it feels like we’ve come such a long way.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

Before joining Healthcode I spent some time travelling in South East Asia. That’s more difficult these days, but I still like to go away two or three times a year and try to explore new places.

I play five-a-side football once a week – due to a couple of bad ankle injuries 11-a-side is no longer possible for me unfortunately. I’m always out and about walking my dog in different places in the UK, but most of my free evenings and weekends are spent on house renovations. I’ve just bought a Grade II listed cottage which is about 300-400 years old and I’m trying to make good what’s there and bring the property back to life. It’s mainly a solo project doing all the work myself, and I think it’ll keep me busy for a couple of years!

The post Meet Our Team | Sam Lawrence appeared first on Healthcode.

When did you join Healthcode and what were you doing before?

Before I started here in 2017, I worked in Customer Services for an insurance broker. I’m quite a people person: every job I’ve had since leaving school has always revolved around talking with customers and helping them.

Tell us about your current role and responsibilities at Healthcode?

After working in Customer Services for about five years, I moved to 2^nd line support in November 2022 where I’m one of a team of three. We’re still part of the Customer Services team but our role is more supervisory and problem-solving.

We’re here to help the Customer Service Agents with more complex queries. Perhaps they’re unsure of something or it’s an issue that can’t be sorted out right away, so it’s forwarded to us to investigate. Once we’ve found a solution, we’ll go back to the agent to update the customer with hopefully a first contact resolution, so we do not need to escalate further. In addition, my team is also responsible for training new starters and keeping everyone in the team up to date with changes to our products and services.

This role suits me perfectly: I’m one of the longest-serving people in the team so I’ve built up a good bank of knowledge and I really enjoy helping my colleagues and our customers.

How has the Transformation Programme affected your work in Customer Service?

There have been a lot of positive changes, especially since Daniel Byrne joined as Head of Customer Operations in 2021. 

For example, we’ve brought in a webchat feature so customers have another way to get in touch and we’ve introduced Salesforce a customer relationship management system so every contact is logged. All these improvements have massively contributed to improving the service we provide and it’s been a pleasure to read some of the lovely reviews that we’ve been getting from customers.

What difference has this made for customers?

Before we had Salesforce, we had to ask customers to tell us what had been going on if they called us about an ongoing issue. Now, it’s all there on the system so customers don’t have to repeat themselves and we can explain what’s been done to resolve the matter. 

Customers have also benefitted from the establishment of our 2^nd Line Support Team. Previously, our most experienced people were dealing with all types of queries but now we can deploy their expertise where it’s needed most which means complex queries are resolved more efficiently. 

At the same time, we’re now providing more self-serve opportunities, as well as free Healthcode Academy tutorials to help customers make the most of the system and save time. While Customer Services will always be there to help, we’ll also try to point people in the right direction and show them how to do things for themselves that they might not have realised they could do.  

What’s the most common query you have to deal with?

My team have more access to the system than 1^st line agents so we’re asked to fix more complex problems. For example, we deal with subscriptions so we can add services to a customer’s account if they need a more advanced feature.

More generally, calls to the team tend to be requests for help with invoicing or using a feature on the system. As you’d expect, we’ll also get more queries after we’ve introduced a new service or functionality and this is when my team has an important role in preparing everyone to support customers.

What do you find most rewarding about your current role?

My role includes supporting larger hospitals and insurers and I take a lot of pride in resolving any issues they have as soon as possible. It makes me happy to receive their thanks after I’ve gone back to them with a solution.

It also means I get to work closely with the account managers in Business Development Managers because they’re the customer’s first point of contact and come to us to see if we can help with a problem. While I’ve found my niche in Customer Services, I like having the chance to work with different people across the company too.

And finally, how do you switch off outside work?

I’m quite a home body so I enjoy the comforts of home and the simple things in life. I’ve got a big family and I like spending as much time with them as possible, especially my grandparents who live quite close by.

I also love going on walks – I can’t say I’ve ever hiked up a mountain but I enjoy exploring new places, especially if there’s a pub lunch at the end!

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