• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

J.D. Power and Associates Reports: CIGNA HealthCare Recognized for Call Center Customer Satisfaction Excellence For a Second Consecutive Year

Posted on: Thursday, 13 September 2007, 12:00 CDT

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- CIGNA HealthCare has been recognized for call center customer satisfaction excellence for a second consecutive year under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program(SM). This distinction acknowledges a strong commitment by CIGNA call center operations to provide "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience."

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-a)

Located in Bourbonnais, Ill.; Bristol, Conn.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Scranton, Penn.; Denison, Texas; and Visalia, Calif., CIGNA HealthCare's call center operations handle more than 18 million telephone calls and e-mails from customers annually. To become certified, the call center operations successfully passed a detailed audit of their recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. As part of its evaluation, J.D. Power and Associates conducted a random survey of CIGNA HealthCare customers who recently contacted its call centers.

"Meeting the needs of customers is critical in running a successful call center operation, and the fact that CIGNA HealthCare has passed the rigorous standards to achieve certification clearly demonstrates their commitment to customer satisfaction," said Jonathan Brookner, director of the call center certification program at J.D. Power and Associates. "CIGNA HealthCare customers are particularly satisfied with the courteousness of the call center representatives."

For certification status, a call center must also perform within the top 20 percent of customer service scores, which is based on benchmarks established in J.D. Power and Associates' cross-industry customer satisfaction research. The criteria used include evaluation of: courtesy; knowledge; concern for the customer; usefulness of the information provided; convenience of operating hours; ease of reaching a representative; and timely resolution.

"What is most gratifying about J.D. Power and Associates' certification is that their focus is on the most important service measure of all: the voice of the consumer," said Brett Browchuk, senior vice president of CIGNA HealthCare Service Operations. "We have made informed, constructive, results-oriented consumer engagement a strategic priority for our health services organization. By surveying thousands of CIGNA HealthCare members about their service call experience, J.D. Power and Associates is able to precisely and objectively measure how well we are delivering essential service information to our customers"

The Call Center Certification Program was launched by J.D. Power and Associates in 2004 to evaluate overall customer satisfaction with call centers and to help call centers in various industries increase their efficiency and effectiveness by establishing best practices for handling service calls.

There are more than 75,000 call centers in North America and an estimated 125,000 worldwide that help customers with product and service questions across a multitude of industries, ranging from credit cards, financial services, investment services, utilities, service warranty and insurance to telecommunications, healthcare and office products.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is an ISO 9001-registered global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The firm's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2006 were $6.3 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.

Media Relations Contacts: John Tews Joseph Mondy J.D. Power and Associates CIGNA HealthCare Troy, Mich. 48098 Hartford, Conn. 06142 (248) 312-4119 (860) 226-5499 john.tews@jdpa.com joseph.mondy@cigna.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. http://www.jdpower.com/corporate

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050527/LAF028LOGO-aAP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

J.D. Power and Associates

CONTACT: John Tews of J.D. Power and Associates, +1-248-312-4119,john.tews@jdpa.com; or Joseph Mondy of CIGNA HealthCare, +1-860-226-5499,joseph.mondy@cigna.com

Web site: http://www.jdpower.com/http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/

Source: PRNewswire

More News in this Category