Customer Service: Helping Consumers and Driving Change

Amanda Cavanagh

Director, Research and Business Development

Customer service.  What does that term mean to you?  How do providers establish best practices for customer service?

Customer service falls in to two basic categories: good or bad.  Let’s be honest.  A poor review is much more interesting to read than a good one.  If misery loves company, then maybe the sour taste from our last bad customer service experience helps us relate to others in the same boat.

For our disability rights community, accessibility to customer service can be challenging.  Is the “Contact Us” page on your website visually accessible?  Is the 800-phone number and supporting call center audibly accessible?  Is your customer service location accessible?  It would be easy to chalk up these challenges as poor customer service.  Instead, we need to look beyond the challenges and see the opportunity to serve our customers.   

As financial management services (FMS) providers, we serve two distinct customer groups.  First, and foremost, program participants are our primary focus.  We manage payroll, taxes, human resource and administrative functions for our participants.   By removing barriers, we enable participants to succeed through dynamic, accessible, and individualized living opportunities.

Through our fiscal services, iLIFE helps people reach their goals and live independently.

In addition to serving people enrolled in long-term care programs, iLIFE also serves programs themselves.  We collaborate with state, federal, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) leaders.  We have the responsibility to spark ability rights discussions, inform policies, and work with these leaders to serve our communities every day.

In that spirit, exemplary customer service must help people in the moment and contribute to larger causes and changes.  While poor customer service does not make customers happy, it is an opportunity to improve things for the future.  The feelings of a job well done, the positive impact we have on our community, and the life changing lessons we learn from our customers should drive this commitment to delivering quality customer service.

Poor reviews might make for interesting reads.  However, good reviews tell the greatest stories.

Changes at the VA: What We Can Learn and How We Can Improve

Gerianne Prom
VP, Long Term Care Services

On Veterans Day, social media was full with messages of genuine support, respect, and affection for veterans, current members of the military, and their families.

On the eve of Veterans Day, there was big news from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as they announced major reforms addressing inadequacies in veteran supports and services.

VA Secretary Bob McDonald announced the creation of a Chief Customer Service Officer, who will simplify internal coordination, enhance customer service, and allow veterans to navigate VA without having to understand the inner workings of the department.

The VA also unveiled an intranet web tool called MyVA Idea House, designed for VA employees to log on and provide feedback in a secure manner.

I think both of these reforms will not only help VA services, but similar policies can also benefit other human service and long-term care programs across the country.

Many people we serve navigate their way through a variety of government and private programs to determine eligibility, as well as access and coordinate ongoing services and supports.  Creating a role similar to the VA’s Chief Customer Service Officer can help guide participants towards the services and supports they need.

It is also good wise to encourage employee feedback through internal websites.  Direct service professionals see things within programs or organizations that need to be changed.  However, they may not feel empowered to discuss problems or suggest improvements.  Continuous feedback from consumers and all layers of an organization will yield optimal opportunities for improvement.

Organizations serving people with disabilities should review these reforms and consider adopting similar simplifying initiatives.

For further reading: Defense One: "Ahead of Veteran's Day, VA Announces Major Reforms"

The Changing Landscape of Long-Term Care

Richard Zalewski

iLIFE Program Consultant

My, oh my.  How things have changed.

Thinking back to when our organization took its first steps into the financial management field, the landscape looked very different.  It was 1988.  While more options for services and resources were becoming available to people with disabilities, the practice of people self-directing their services was not widely implemented.

From the 1960s through the ‘80s, self-directed service models sprung out of the independent living movement.  These programs only served small pockets of our country, but they fostered larger principles that would eventually influence future policies and programs.

Now, federal regulations and requirements are driving the transformation of long-term care.  Of course, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Olmstead decision have been huge.  However, additional financial incentives for states to decrease institutional spending are expanding community based service options.  In 2012, nearly half of the $136 billion Medicaid spent on long-term care went to home and community based services.

Wisconsin’s participant-directed supports program, IRIS, is an increasingly popular option for people wanting to exercise self-direction.  iLIFE is the fiscal employer agent for IRIS, which currently serves over 11,000 participants.  Additionally, veteran-directed service programs (VD-HCBS) have expanded across the United States.  iLIFE provides financial management services to VD-HCBS participants in Wisconsin, Illinois, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

As more long-term care programs become available and self-directed options expand, financial management service providers are in a unique position to help people and their families better live and work in their community.

Over the past quarter century, there has been a great deal of change.  I hope this commitment stays the same.

Learn more about our services at iLIFEfms.com.