At 8:03 AM, Heather logs into her headset, already bracing for a full day. She’s a healthcare call center agent and she knows the next eight hours will be filled with a barrage of information. She’ll help a worried daughter find the right specialist for her father, guide a patient through post-op instructions and calm a frustrated caller who’s been transferred three times before reaching her. She takes one big gulp of coffee before starting.
Heather is one of thousands of unseen frontline heroes who staff healthcare contact centers across the country. Every call she takes could mean the difference between a timely appointment and a missed diagnosis, between a loyal patient and one who leaves the system entirely. But how is Sarah’s work measured? Too often, it’s reduced to a single number: Average Handle Time (AHT).
That’s the problem.
In a recent healthcare system review, leaders celebrated a 30% drop in AHT across their call centers. On paper, it looked like a win. But within weeks, patient satisfaction scores dropped, complaint volumes spiked and first-call resolutions fell off. The agents were faster — but not better. They were rushed. Stressed. Missing the moments that mattered.
It wasn’t their fault. It was the system’s.
That’s when the organization adopted a Balanced Scorecard approach, and everything started to change.
What Is a Balanced Scorecard — and Why Your Healthcare Organization Needs One
The Balanced Scorecard was developed in the early 1990s by Harvard Business School professors Robert Kaplan and David Norton. It was designed to move companies away from managing solely by financial numbers and toward a more holistic evaluation that includes in-depth analysis, key performance metrics, and overall agent performance. They asked a bold question: What if we measured success from multiple angles — not just profits or productivity, but quality, learning, and impact? This approach isn’t just limited to reducing cost per contact; rather, it’s a complete scorecard for call center agents that emphasizes both efficiency and customer service excellence.
For healthcare call centers, that idea has never been more relevant. These teams operate at the intersection of care and communication. A single call may require clinical accuracy, emotional intelligence, regulatory knowledge and seamless coordination. Reducing that complexity to one or two metrics like call volume or AHT misses the mark.
The Balanced Scorecard allows managers to view performance across four interrelated dimensions:
- Staff Development: Are we training our contact center agents well? Are they staying? Are they growing? Effective agent performance tracking is essential in this dimension.
- Patient Experience: Are our patients satisfied? Do we resolve their needs the first time they call? These are vital customer service and customer satisfaction metrics.
- Operational Efficiency: Are our processes streamlined? Are agents available when patients need them? Improving call center efficiency and keeping an eye on cost per contact is key.
- Service Excellence: Are we compliant, thorough, and safe in every interaction? Rigorous quality assurance and call center management tools help keep the standards high.
The Danger of Managing by a Single Metric
Back in Heather’s call center, she remembers when every agent had a target AHT pinned to their monitors. “Get them off the line in under six minutes,” her former supervisor used to say. That narrow focus meant cutting short important conversations, avoiding complex questions, and transferring tough calls to someone else.
According to industry data, 96% of patient complaints are tied not to clinical care — but to customer service experiences. Patients who experience poor phone interactions are four times more likely to switch providers. When you manage by speed alone, you lose what healthcare is supposed to be about: trust and connection. And while you might hit your key performance metrics, overall customer satisfaction plummets.
In fact, according to DialogTech, only 1% of healthcare call centers reach first-call resolution rates above 80% — a sign that the industry is still catching up when it comes to truly effective service.
From Numbers to Narratives: What Happens When You Balance the Score
When Sarah’s center adopted a Balanced Scorecard model, the shift was immediate — and profound.
They started measuring how well agents were trained and whether they stayed with the organization for more than a year. They looked at CSAT scores alongside resolution rates. They audited calls for quality assurance, safety and compliance. Instead of being told to “wrap it up,” Sarah was empowered to stay with the patient until they felt seen, heard, and truly cared for. This balanced strategy not only improved call center efficiency but also provided standards that informed agent performance tracking and call center coaching metrics.
Managers could now identify coaching opportunities based on nuanced patterns — not just outliers. A new agent might have longer call times, but if their CSAT and compliance scores were high, they got support rather than reprimands. Staff development was tracked, celebrated and encouraged, embodying the core of a modern scorecard for call center agents.
According to The Australian, one healthcare system using this balanced strategy saw a 15% rise in Net Promoter Score and a 20% improvement in first-contact resolution after redesigning their approach using these integrated call center management tools.
Why It Matters—Now More Than Ever
Healthcare is personal. It’s emotional. And it’s increasingly virtual. Today, one in three patient interactions begins or ends in a call center. These conversations are no longer “just scheduling” — they are the front door of care and a critical component of customer service.
To treat call center agents as mere cogs in a machine is to misunderstand their role entirely. They are triage nurses in headsets, navigators of chaos and interpreters of policy and empathy alike.
To truly support them — and the patients they serve — we need tools that reflect the full scope of their impact.
The Balanced Scorecard is that tool.
Ready to Build Yours?
You don’t need to start from scratch. Many healthcare systems already track the right data — they just haven’t connected it in a meaningful, strategic way. Start by grouping your existing key performance indicators into the four scorecard dimensions. Use Keona Health’s Balanced Scorecard template to get you started and visualize the big picture.
Involve your team in the process. Let them see the metrics that matter. Implementation takes careful planning, aligning multiple data sources, gaining buy-in and ensuring agents understand the why behind the metrics.
Because when we manage smarter through thoughtful evaluation and strategic analysis, we serve better. And when we support the heroes on the phones, we build a healthcare system worthy of the people who depend on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Balanced Scorecard in the context of a healthcare call center?
A Balanced Scorecard is a strategic performance management tool that evaluates success across multiple dimensions rather than relying on a single metric like average handle time. In healthcare call centers, it typically includes staff development, patient experience, operational efficiency, and service excellence. This more holistic strategy helps leaders make better decisions that improve both patient outcomes and agent performance, while also optimizing call center performance metrics and cost per contact.
Why is average handle time (AHT) not enough to measure call center performance?
AHT measures how quickly agents complete calls, but it does not account for quality, empathy, or comprehensive issue resolution. Over-prioritizing speed can lead to rushed conversations, unnecessary transfers, and unresolved issues. According to McKinsey & Company, improving first-call resolution has a greater impact on customer satisfaction than simply shortening call duration.
What evidence supports the use of a Balanced Scorecard for healthcare call center efficiency?
Healthcare organizations that use a Balanced Scorecard have reported significant gains. For example, a healthcare system in Australia saw a 15 percent increase in Net Promoter Score and a 20 percent improvement in first-contact resolution after implementing this model.
How does the Balanced Scorecard improve patient experience?
By tracking metrics like first-call resolution, CSAT scores, and quality assurance audits, organizations ensure that patient concerns are addressed effectively the first time. The Beryl Institute notes that communication is a critical driver of patient experience, and poor service during phone interactions can lead to dissatisfaction and provider switching.
Is the Balanced Scorecard difficult to implement in a healthcare setting?
While it requires planning and a shift in strategy, most healthcare systems already collect the necessary data. The challenge is organizing those metrics into meaningful categories and using call center management tools that facilitate an in-depth evaluation. Keona Health’s Balanced Scorecard template can help visualize the data, streamline agent performance tracking, and align teams around shared goals.
Healthcare Call Center KPIs: What are some examples of Balanced Scorecard metrics for a healthcare call center?
- Staff Development: Agent retention, training completion, internal promotions (enhanced through continuous agent performance tracking)
- Patient Experience: CSAT scores, first-call resolution, complaint rates — key measures in customer service and customer satisfaction
- Operational Efficiency: Average speed to answer, schedule adherence, call abandonment — all crucial for improving call center efficiency and tracking cost per contact
- Service Excellence: Quality assurance scores, compliance audits, and documentation accuracy — vital elements in a robust call center management strategy
When should we adopt a Call Center Balanced Scorecard?
With virtual care on the rise, call centers are becoming the front door to healthcare. Accenture reports that 32 percent of healthcare interactions now start or end in a call center. Managing those interactions well is essential to maintaining trust, improving care coordination, and reducing patient churn. There is no better time than now to adopt a Call Center Balanced Scorecard.
