Hospital Reduced Voicemail Volume By 75% With GLSS
Missouri
Healthcare
Operations
75%
- The problem: In healthcare, communication is at the heart of quality patient care. Every second spent on administrative work—like sorting through voicemails—is time that could be used to assist patients and their families. This St. Louis organization was dealing with an overwhelming 185 voicemails per week (37 per day), requiring excessive time to check, log, and return each message.
- Recognizing this challenge, they partnered with GLSS’s Green Belt Training & Certification to streamline communication and reduce voicemail overload from 37 per day to 9 per day—a 75% improvement.
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In healthcare, communication is at the heart of quality patient care. Every second spent on administrative work—like sorting through voicemails—is time that could be used to assist patients and their families. However, when communication processes become inefficient, staff members can quickly become overwhelmed. This leads to frustration, longer response times, and unnecessary back-and-forth that delays the care patients need.
Healthcare organizations must manage high call volumes daily. When systems for handling these calls are ineffective, it creates delays that impact both staff and patient experiences. This organization was dealing with an overwhelming 185 voicemails per week (37 per day), requiring excessive time to check, log, and return each message. Staff members were caught in an endless cycle of responding to calls, which pulled them away from other critical tasks.
These inefficiencies weren’t just frustrating—they directly impacted patient care. Delayed callbacks meant families had to leave multiple messages, increasing their frustration and adding to the voicemail backlog. Without a structured approach to handling calls, the organization needed a solution to reduce voicemail volume and improve responsiveness.
Through GLSS’s Green Belt Training & Certification, the organization applied structured problem-solving techniques to uncover the root cause of the voicemail overload:
- Too many calls were going to voicemail. Staff members were frequently unavailable to answer calls in real-time, forcing patients and families to leave messages instead.
- Delayed responses created repeat voicemails. When patients didn’t receive a quick callback, they often followed up with additional messages, increasing the backlog.
With expert guidance from the GLSS Training, the organization implemented two key process changes that drastically reduced voicemail volume:
- Prioritizing live call responses: The team adjusted schedules and call routing to ensure more calls were answered in real-time, preventing the need for voicemail in many cases.
- Structured voicemail follow-up: For messages that did reach voicemail, the organization adopted a clear policy: all voicemails would be returned within one business day, eliminating the need for repeat messages and reducing the backlog.
By directly addressing the core issue, these simple yet effective improvements transformed how the organization managed patient calls—all without increasing staffing.
The impact of these changes was both immediate and significant:
- Voicemail volume dropped from 37 per day to just 9 per day—a 75% reduction.
- Staff members spent far less time checking and returning calls, allowing them to focus on patient care.
- Faster response times meant improved communication and a better experience for patients and families.
- The organization optimized its existing workforce, avoiding the need to hire additional staff.
By improving how calls were handled, the organization reduced stress on employees while enhancing the quality of care for patients and their families.
with GLSS
By choosing GLSS Green Belt Training & Certification, the organization was able to quickly and effectively reduce voicemail volume, streamline communication, and boost efficiency. The innovative instructional design of GLSS’s training program enabled the team to take action faster—getting measurable results without added complexity or extra costs.
This success story goes beyond just voicemail reduction. It demonstrates how process improvement can drive long-term operational excellence. With a proven framework for tackling inefficiencies, the organization is now in a stronger position to enhance other critical processes and continue improving patient care. Thanks to GLSS, the team now has the tools and confidence to sustain these improvements and build a culture of continuous success.
*We value our clients’ confidentiality. While we’ve changed their names, the results are real.
