Business ChallengesWhen you run a high-stakes IT help desk for a children’s hospital, it’s tough to consider trusting it to someone else. But the increasing costs and management challenges of operating its after-hours help desk led Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin (CHW) to look for another option. Jen Ehlers, IS Service Center Manager, leads the 24/7 help desk serving 5,000 employees at CHW. The hospital network sees thousands of children in Wisconsin, Northern Illinois and in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula through its hospitals, clinics and in-school nurses. CHW is consistently ranked among the top 10 children’s hospitals nationwide.

The dedicated caregivers at CHW depend on a sophisticated technology infrastructure to diagnose and treat young patients. The electronic medical records application is tapped for every patient interaction, and caregivers rely on critical systems for needs such as radiology and prescriptions.

The CHW help desk, like the hospital, never closes. Overnight calls, though they may come hours apart, can be just as critical as daytime calls.

The cost of staffing the help desk on nights and weekends added up. CHW paid double time, and at times, on-call pay for the third shift. The hospital needed at least two people there at all times.

Outsourcing the help desk looked very attractive, but hospital management had serious doubts that an outside team could learn and support the hospital’s more than 200 applications, most of which are custom.

“We provide customized service for practically every customer and we have a huge knowledge base to follow. We have no margin for error,” said Jen Ehlers.

ChallengesThe hospital needed to rein in the

cost and management challenges

of its after-hours help desk, but

with more than 200 mostly custom

medical applications to support,

it doubted that an external team

could do the job. SolutionCHW’s longstanding, positive

relationship with EarthLink for

network services opened the door

to talks with EarthLink about their

TechCare solution. The experienced

Technical Analysts and major cost

savings “sealed the deal.”

Results•Lower costs – The hospital reduces

its help desk costs substantially.

•Consistent service delivery –

The TechCare team supports

approximately 200 CHW

applications and maintains the

same quality of service as the

in-house, daytime group.

•More detailed reporting –

The IS Service Center Manager

is kept informed of the team’s

activities and the actions taken

via detailed reports.

CHW meticulously evaluated service providers to take over the after-hours service. Ehlers asked countless questions and toured facilities before choosing EarthLink’s TechCare. The fact that CHW already had a positive experience with EarthLink for network and voice services made the difference. With EarthLink network services, the hospital saves a significant amount annually.

The Solution

Children’s Hospital of WisconsinCASE STUDY

Children’sHospitalofWisconsinCaseStudy2013getinfo@earthlinkbusiness.com|www.earthlinkbusiness.com

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“We were tenuous about moving our help desk but we took a leap of faith based on our interactions and history with the EarthLink staff and haven’t been disappointed. EarthLink TechCare Analysts keep pace with our in-house team and get just as much positive feedback from customers.”

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Trims Help Desk Costs Substantially Trusting After-Hours Service to EarthLink TechCare Enhances 24/7 Customer Care

Jen Ehlers IS Service Center Manager, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

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Positioned for the FutureEarthLink TechCare serves as a seamless part of CHW’s own help desk, helping alleviate the after-hours service while keeping costs down. “We honestly had doubts about moving our help desk but we took a leap of faith and haven’t been disappointed,” Ehlers said. “TechCare Analysts have told us that we are one of the most customized groups they have ever worked with, but they keep pace with our in-house team and get just as much positive feedback from customers. Our service is much better now.” With the move, CHW reduced its help desk staffing costs substantially. Moreover, TechCare gives Ehlers, as manager of the help desk, much-needed peace of mind during nights and weekends. Ehlers values her longstanding relationship with EarthLink and her account executive in particular. “I would say that EarthLink is one of the only vendors from which I don’t dread a call,” she said. “It’s a good, professional relationship. I trust my account executive as much as I can trust anyone. When she says she’ll deliver, she always follows through.”

Why Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Selected EarthLink Business

“Visiting EarthLink’s New

York site sealed the deal. We

saw the professionals and

their dedication. Most have

15-20 years of experience.”

“TechCare gets our

customer service vision -

we don’t want our

customers waiting.”

CHW would also reduce its costs with TechCare, as well as maintain its high service levels.

“We chose EarthLink because of the relationship and trust level we had with the company and our account executive,” Ehlers said. “Visiting EarthLink’s New York site sealed the deal. We saw the professionals and their dedication. Most have 15-20 years of experience.” TechCare provides customized IT care for end users in a fully managed help desk solution. EarthLink plugs right into CHW’s help desk workflow and knowledge base, even using the hospital’s existing help desk applications. For the transition, CHW’s TechCare manager spent an intensive week learning as much as possible before returning to train his staff over several weeks.“When you look back on it, it was quite a phenomenal feat,” Ehlers said. “We provided meticulous documentation and we all worked together to improve our shared knowledge. TechCare ramped up very quickly.” The TechCare team covers CHW’s help desk from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily and throughout the weekend. As requested, analysts follow the hospital’s detailed knowledge base, and one that TechCare created to supplement it. “TechCare analysts consult the knowledge base on every call and follow it to a T,” Ehlers said. “That’s a big priority for us. They also reach out appropriately and independently to the second tier.” But what most impresses Ehlers is that TechCare analysts resolve issues for so many applications that they have never even seen in person, including complex applications used for critical care situations. The TechCare team provides detailed daily reports on call volume, open tickets and talk time that keep management continuously aware of after-hours activity. Now, they’re in the process of setting up dashboards so everyone has a real-time view.

CASE STUDY

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Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

Children’sHospitalofWisconsinCaseStudy2013