Kids Plus Pediatrics Case Study

Kids Plus Pediatrics was looking at IP telephony technology as a way of further improving the way they practice medicine and engage with patients. Unbeatable value and robust features made Mitel Connect ONSITE just what the doctor ordered.

Situation:

• Desired a new phone system that would connect the three Kids Plus Pediatrics (KPP) offices and handle future expansion
• Needed an integrated reporting system that provided better insight into appropriate staffing levels

SOLUTION:

• Mitel Connect ONSITE, including Mitel Connect mobile applications, conferencing and integrated reporting.

Results:

• Exceptional user experience
• More robust system and reporting features
• Enhanced communication access for staff via mobile applications
• Built-in video conferencing to streamline staff and patient interactions
• Lowest total cost of ownership

Organization

Kids Plus Pediatrics is an independent, physician-owned and family-focused medical practice. With multiple locations in the Pittsburgh area, Kids Plus Pediatrics has been helping to care for their patients and the community for over forty years. 

Situation

Prior to Mitel, Kids Plus Pediatrics had an aging phone system that lacked modern telephony features, which prevented the organization from implementing a quality-of-service program. KPP then moved to a Mitel on-premises solution before deciding to deploy Mitel Connect ONSITE to gain even greater financial returns, line of business (LOB) integration, and the lowest TCO.

Kids Plus Pediatrics (KPP) has three locations and nearly 100 employees. When the organization wanted to expand, it needed a system capable of supporting additional locations. “When we were considering transitioning to a newer phone system, the most important requirement was scalability. We went from one office to two offices in the period of about a decade. The following year we opened up another office and there's a good chance that we'll be opening a fourth,” says Christian Lowry, chief information director at Kids Plus Pediatrics.

According to Albert Wolfe, chief financial officer and pediatrician at Kids Plus Pediatrics, the organization also needed better insight into appropriate staffing levels and to improve internal communications. With no metrics on call volume or insight into the number of calls in the queue, KPP had a hard time coordinating, triaging, and staffing. 

Solution

During the due-diligence phase, the team discovered that Mitel Connect ONSITE had the most features on KPP’s wish list. After running a litany of numbers and comparing Mitel Connect ONSITE to other vendors, the service wound up having the lowest TCO of all of them. In fact, KPP anticipates that Mitel Connect ONSITE will save the practice about 10 percent over five years compared to Microsoft Skype for Business, Avaya, and Cisco solutions.

Impressed with Mitel Connect ONSITE, KPP seized the opportunity to retool its entire infrastructure. The organization changed data center providers, phone carriers, and the entire in-house server infrastructure.

“When we were considering phone options, Mitel had a great reputation. It was the system that we were confident could meet our needs now and into the future. The functionality that Mitel Connect ONSITE offered was more robust than anything we’ve ever seen,” explains Todd Wolynn, chief executive officer at Kids Plus Pediatrics.

“It was the system that we were confident could meet our needs now and into the future. The functionality that Mitel Connect ONSITE offered was more robust than anything we’ve ever seen."

Todd Wolynn, Chief Executive Officer
Kids Plus Pediatrics

“There were a few things that reinforced our decision to choose Mitel Connect ONSITE. We were one of the Mitel Connect beta testers and were very impressed with the product. Plus, the value was unbeatable. Compared to the competitors, Mitel Connect ONSITE pricing was significantly better. We were also impressed with Mitel’s customer service,” says Wolfe.

“When I first learned about Mitel Connect ONSITE, it seemed as though it would be a much better fit for our organization than what the other competitors offered. The price point was notably lower. The feature set and intuitive interface has what we need now to improve the quality of care and what we will require when we expand down the road,” says Lowry.

Results

From implementation to easy-to-use features, Mitel Connect ONSITE has exceeded expectations. The Mitel Connect ONSITE deployment was seamless. KPP worked with Mitel’s in-house implementation team to determine needed configuration aspects.

“What I appreciate most about the Mitel Connect ONSITE system is its intuitiveness. It's simple and that makes my life much easier. The reporting and queue time management capabilities allow us to see how many people are in the call queue, how long they've been waiting, and what the average wait time is for that day,” explains Lowry. “Having access to this information has enabled me to start vetting recordings for our quality of care initiatives.”

“With Mitel Connect ONSITE, we now tie in our existing business intelligence tools with our phone system and our staff can obtain the information they're looking for without my involvement. Once I set it up, our employees can take it from there,” says Lowry.

Mitel Connect ONSITE reporting also helps KPP elevate its patient experience. With the ability to track phone call volume and identify peak call times, the organization has realized huge staffing efficiencies.

“As a CFO, I appreciate the ability to monitor and to optimize our workflow. We're able to take a busy division like triage and now have up-to-date, up-to-the-minute analytics on call volume, productivity, and wait times,” explains Wolfe. “When we have a sudden spike in phone calls, we can immediately bring in staff to man the phones and take calls. Once the call volume settles back down, they can be reassigned to other duties. Now we can adjust our staffing to meet variable demands, which we never had the ability to do before.”

“I anticipate Mitel Connect ONSITE will help us continue to improve our patient quality of care and our patient experience by ensuring that we have the means of creating necessary metrics. I would describe Mitel Connect as intuitive, magical and simple."

Christian Lowry, Chief Information Director
Kids Plus Pediatrics

Mitel Mobility enhances interoffice productivity

KPP now uses the Mitel Mobility application to solve the challenge of tracking down personnel in three locations. Now employees can dial an extension and the person assigned to that extension has the ability to answer from his or her mobile phone.

“As the CEO, I have to travel between three offices, so having a fixed phone on my desk doesn't really meet all of my needs. I really was hesitant to call people back on my personal mobile phone and reveal my number. The fact that I can use the Mitel Mobility app to have my phone extension go with me wherever I go is ideal,” explains Wolynn.

Mitel Connect ONSITE conferencing offers a better way to train, communicate, and improve HIPAA compliance

KPP has discovered unanticipated uses for the Mitel Connect ONSITE conferencing feature. For one, it has improved the training process. Now KPP can record training sessions and distribute the videos to onboarding staff and existing staff who may need a refresher. The organization also uses Mitel Connect ONSITE conferencing to communicate among its three offices and handle Web conferences with vendors.

The conferencing feature also helps KPP support HIPAA compliance. With full access to the entire call history database, the ability to write custom reports and easily distribute data to supervisors and directors, Mitel Connect ONSITE helps KPP meet compliance mandates.

MITEL CONNECT ONSITE: INTUITIVE, MAGICAL, SIMPLE

“Going forward with Mitel, we feel we've really just scratched the surface. The system has a lot of other data and analytics features that we are learning. We are in the process of redesigning our workflow, so we will be even more efficient and more effective. If someone were to ask me about Mitel, I would tell them the system has allowed us to provide exceptional care with exceptional efficiency at an exceptionally low cost,” says Wolfe.

“If someone were to ask me about Mitel, I would tell them the system has allowed us to provide exceptional care with exceptional efficiency at an exceptionally low cost."

Albert Wolfe, Chief Financial Officer and Pediatrician
Kids Plus Pediatrics