The Glimmer of the Gold: Gold Collar Workers at American Healthways
1 Jul, 2002
By: Rhonda ProctorIf you think the term gold collar worker refers to the guy at the gas station booth wearing a bunch of big gold chains, think again. Gold collar workers are becoming some of the most valuable employees in U.S. business today.
The term gold collar is used to describe highly skilled employees with dual specialties who, because of their unique blend of knowledge and skills are believed to help companies achieve business goals and sustain a competitive advantage. The most widely known example of this is perhaps the CPA with a law degree who is uniquely qualified to help clients manage their financial affairs, and who knows the legal ramifications of all financial choices made. As a result, this professional maintains a unique competitive advantage because of a dual set of skills.
As contact centers continue to struggle with ways to recruit, select, train and retain the best talent, there is an increasing interest in the concept of gold collar workers. One company that understands the value of the gold collar employee, and has made it work to achieve measurable competitive advantage is American Healthways.
American Healthways, is the nation''s leading provider of specialized, comprehensive care enhancement and disease management services. The publicly traded company is at the forefront of an emerging trend in healthcare known as disease management – the goal of which is to keep patients out of the hospitals and reduce costs to insurers. American Healthways achieves these objectives by supporting the physician’s plan of care for the patient with clinical assessments, education, individualized goal-setting and monitoring over the phone. In their Care Enhancement Centers (CECs), all agents are qualified medical personnel, such as registered nurses or dieticians, who are then trained to be call center agents. These gold collar workers are highly valued for their professional expertise, and compensated at a rate comparable to that they would command in their chosen healthcare profession.
“The basis behind the business decision to employ professional staff was a natural one, “ says, Scott Sivik Regional Vice President of Operations for the Kapolei, Hawaii CEC, “nurses and dietitians are trained to be critical thinkers, and by the nature of their professional choice, are highly empathetic. Providing advice, support, and health information needs to be provided by an appropriately trained and credentialed professional. Moreover, the fact that our staff are comprised of professionals they tend to be highly motivated, well-educated, and receptive to learning new things.” The company invests about a month on “new hire” training for colleagues to ensure they are confident and proficient in their role. A minimum of monthly continuing education is also provided. Turnover at the Hawaii facility has remained extremely low, which is an obvious benefit to their key island client, Hawaii Medical Service Association for whom American Healthways handles Diabetes and Cardiac Disease Management Programs.
The Kapolei Care Enhancement Center has 60 colleagues on staff, runs a 12 hour per day staffed operation, and has a nurse on call during non-peak hours. The facility serves more than 42,000 people in Hawaii with Diabetes and almost 17,000 with Cardiovascular Disease. Says Sivik, “We have the opportunity to work with patients over the long term and become a part of their lives. I think this variety, and the feeling of making a real difference in the lives of people on a daily basis goes a long way.” American Healthways operates five call centers now and plans to open two or three more on the mainland within the next 14 months.
The innovative philosophy has proven to be successful. On the customer side of the business, American Healthways has made significant improvements in clinical outcomes as well as patient and physician satisfaction, and has achieved reductions in health care costs for all of their clients across the United States. From a financial perspective, the company has a pattern of growing revenue by over 70% per year and earnings over 100% per year. Earnings per share have also been positive, even in today’s turbulent market.
Although the term gold collar worker has not yet fully become matriculated into the nomenclature of business today, hiring these highly skilled workers and placing them in non-traditional but parallel roles establishes a clear competitive advantage for companies who want to build a culture based upon industry expertise and business savvy. American Healthways may be paving the way for new trends not only in healthcare, but in contact centers as well.
