BHG Call Center Turns 7, First Agents Continue Connecting People to Care
By Nancy Buttyan, Chief Marketing Officer
“Sir, are you there? Can you hear me?” That’s what call center agent Epiphany Shelton asked a Virginia man who trailed off in the middle of giving his address. Her gut instinct kicked in and she knew something was off. On a separate line, she called Dallas 9-1-1 and they patched her into the man’s local 9-1-1 where police and medics showed up in minutes to find that he had taken heroin that morning. Critical instincts and actions taken in 20 intense minutes saved the man’s life.
Fortunately, not all calls turn into emergencies like this, but our Call Center team of highly trained agents know when to kick into high gear as well as to provide a professional, calm, and welcoming voice for every person calling into BHG seeking help for themselves, a family member or friend.
Seven years ago, this month, the BHG Call Center team was born and Epiphany was agent No. 1 along with Ashley Montgomery. Shortly after, Shondra Gooden arrived on referral by Ashley. Time and again, they demonstrate above-and-beyond commitment to handling every single call with care. Their knowledge and wisdom are invaluable to how the Call Center operates today, and we’re proud of this growing team who are oftentimes the “first responder” for patients.
In the beginning, Epiphany, Ashley and Shondra were taking calls for two states — Kentucky and Tennessee. In December 2020, we hired a Call Center Manager, Dorothy Goodwin, amid the pandemic and significant growth.
“When I started, we had six agents and averaged 6,000 monthly calls. Today, we have 11 agents responding to an average 11,000 monthly calls,” said Dorothy. “When we have in-person visitors or team members come to the office for the first time, they always ask to meet Epiphany.
In line with our treatment center hours, the Call Center is open 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call volume has been on the rise since 2020 and our trends show peak times to be March to September with volume decreasing between October and December. We know that during the winter holidays our availability and demand goes down.
“6 a.m. to noon is like rush hour in the call center. We get phone calls in the morning letting us know they’re going to be late or need an address. We start to get new inquiries and patients wanting to make appointments around 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. Later in the day we get calls with questions about transferring to other clinics, or from patients with billing questions.”
While our Call Center agents are not required to have specific licenses and certifications, they go through extensive training and regularly meet to discuss situations and ideas for continuous customer service improvement. When we have special campaigns or challenges in different markets, our Marketing teams and other departments inform the Call Center and always think of what role the Call Center can play in being good stewards for our team members, patients, and communities.
“We are extra careful to not provide advice and we tell patients to talk with their doctors or counselors. We are empathetic and listen to people who are experiencing some of the worst days of their lives,” Dorothy explained. “As for our PDs and centers, we want them to know that we have their backs, that we’re here to help them, and to make their jobs as easy as we can by scheduling patients correctly and completing their pre-screening information. That is why it is so important for the Call Center to have the most up to date scheduling information.”
Stories from the Call Center
I’m so proud of our Call Center team and want to introduce them all to you. That’s why we’re starting a new section of the Progress Notes newsletter called “Stories from the Call Center.” This month, we’re featuring Epiphany Shelton and will spotlight Ashley and Shondra next, and all other agents throughout the next year.
Growing up in Garland, TX, a suburb of Dallas, Epiphany earned a double major in biology and psychology from the University of North Texas.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my career, but I thought for sure that I wanted to be a doctor,” Epiphany recalled. “After school, I started applying for jobs everywhere and came across BHG. At the time, I didn’t know much about opioid addiction and that it was a public health crisis. During the interview process, I learned what the company stood for and thought this would be a great way to get involved in the medical field.”
When it comes to doing “work with purpose,” Epiphany is wired for what we do here at BHG.
“I can’t believe how much has changed since my first day, and I didn’t realize that I would have the kind of impact that I’ve had. The biggest differences between then and now are our expansion and growth and all the connections I’ve made with our employees across the country. I love having that kind of connection with people,” said Epiphany.
Dorothy described Epiphany as always being in tune with what might be happening with a person while talking to them on the phone. One time, someone called who was unhappy with a clinic and threatened violence.
“We Immediately started calling local police and let clinics know of the danger. The police called me back with a status and told me they knew the person because they had incidents with him in the past. It was a team effort. My teammate, Alicia, initially took his call and started warning us through chat,” said Epiphany.
“We also serve as a go-between sometimes for a treatment center and patients when communication isn’t going well. We remain impartial and listen carefully to what the patient is telling us then we forward the details on to the PD and RD so they are aware of the situation and can contact the patient for resolution.”
“Epiphany is grace under fire. Calm in the storm. Soft spoken, but firm when needed,” said Dorothy.
Speaking of storms
When Epiphany isn’t working, she’s an unofficial storm chaser. Yes, you read that right. It’s a hobby. She and her mom hit the road looking for action in the skies. She recently attended the Texas Severe Storms Association (TESSA) Conference where she met meteorologists and storm chasers from across the country.
“I’m a weather nerd,” said Epiphany. “My mom and I go storm chasing together. I watch a lot of storm chasers on YouTube and if I see something is happening where we have centers, I start an email thread with PDs. For example, last year I was in touch with our Louisiana centers about Hurricane Ida which severely damaged our New Orleans Downtown and Westbank facilities. I want to commend our Call Center and clinical teams for how amazing they were in pulling things together after the hurricane. So many people were impacted there and couldn’t get a hold of clinics. The only people patients could reach were us and our compliance team.”
When major weather events like Uri hit, the winter storm of the century in February 2021, Epiphany and Dorothy said the entire Call Center team switches gears, rolls up their sleeves and addresses a variety of calls that are not the typical. We saw many of our teammates from across the country diving in to help staff and patients.
“We have an emergency plan,” said Dorothy. “If there’s something going on, we start thinking through what kind of calls we’ll get from patients. Epiphany is real proactive thinking through that which comes from her experience and wisdom. She’s such an asset to BHG.”
When asked about her “why,” Epiphany said, “My reason for working at BHG is to have as big of an impact as possible. In the future, I want to study epidemiology, which carries a common theme like my work here: to help as many people as I can. One of the easiest ways to do that here is what we’re doing in the Call Center. Sometimes you get to see the immediate impact of that. It’s meaningful to know that you helped people move one step further in their recovery journey.”
