Communications Department
The Communications Department is the vital link that enables the outside world to communicate with the hospital departments, patients and employees. The telephone is still most businesses primary point of contact with customers. And the way you answer your company's phone will form your customer's first impression of your business.
Because people cannot "see" us over the telephone they will form these opinions based not only what we say, but also on "how" we say it. In fact the message we communicate over the telephone is based on two qualities; (1) "What" we say (Verbal) and (2) "How" we say it. Several studies have indicated that as much as 87% of the opinions people form about us (when speaking on the telephone) are based on the tone of our voice. Only 13% is based on the actual words we use. People can "hear" our personality and mannerisms through the tone of our voice. You can actually hear a smile through the telephone.
We live in a world of answering machines and "voice mail". This is especially true in the healthcare world. How many of us find ourselves playing "telephone tag" with each other. By the time you actually speak with the person you were trying to contact you've left 2 or 3 messages. In those short message exchanges, the party on the other line has already formed an opinion about you based solely on your speaking voice.
Our Communications Center not only handles the incoming calls to the hospital, but also assists patients, physicians, and staff when making long distance calls, finding telephone numbers for other facilities/physician offices, sorts and distributes incoming mail into department mailboxes, and prepares and places postage on outgoing mail. Our Communications Center plays a critical role in a time of disasters. It is their responsibility to read the alarm displays, internal page the type of code with location, and notify 9-1-1.
Our Communications Center staff consists of: Mary Jordan, Lisa Osborne, Louise Bare, Brenda Jones, Katrina Miller, Katie Thore, Whitney Goodman and Sherry Cox, Manager.
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