Kaizen Event: Hangin' on a Call Lookin' for a Live Body

El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency is the result of a recent merge between the county’s Health Services Department (Public Health and Mental Health) and Human Services Department (Community Services and Social Services). As with any merger, there have been changes in staffing and organizational structure, blending of overlapping services, and relocation of programs. As part of assessing the new role public health plays in the agency, agency staff observed a lack of knowledge among all levels of public health staff about what services are offered, and by whom, both within public health and by the agency as a whole. This problem is compounded by the increased number of phone calls to Public Health regarding services and information about programs provided by the agency. Data collected from a 7-day phone call audit showed that, on average, the on-call employees and front-end staff each receive approximately 30 calls per week from the public inquiring about programs and services the agency provides. On average, each phone call lasted 3 minutes, and callers had to be transferred three times on average before reaching the appropriate subject matter expert (SME). Public Health staff have openly expressed concern with their ability to provide the inquiring public with an efficient and seamless referral to the appropriate service. The goal of this quality improvement (QI) initiative was to improve the process of obtaining knowledge about agency programs and services and to provide more efficient information assistance to the public. The agency believes that to truly enhance the quality of life for its patrons, staff need to create an atmosphere that allows patrons to feel that for almost any issue and at any one of the 11 initial points of contact, they have come to the right place.