TLDR– Coworkers won't get the name and number of a patient when they call in, and expect me to pick it up. Patient gets mad at us later when nobody answers or calls us back. What do I do?
I work in a small call center, there are two of us. The rest are advocates, medical staff, etc.. So, I feel like I'm pretty chill. I'm notorious for being a doormat and I'm trying to learn to stand up for myself. I'm struggling with a couple other things my friends have told me I need to fix, I tend to just say yes and do whatever comes my way because I want to help my coworkers, and technically as call center it is my job, regardless of if I can handle it.
I've been having issues with some of my coworkers (one or two of them) that don't tell me anything and just park (on hold) a patient without telling me they're waiting. I literally just want a name and a callback number. Just in case I can't take the call, they drop, or they hang up or something. A reason for calling (new patient, reschedule, etc) would be fantastic, but straight up just the name and callback number is all I insist on. They refuse to do it, and the patients end up mad at me. They sit on hold for three minutes before being rerouted.
So, cut to about 20 minutes ago. One of the medical assistants apparently had sent me a message “Mary p1” and I'd answered another new patient call. I can't pick up poor Mary because I'm already talking to Sue. An advocate picks up the holding call, sends me a message asking to trade me calls. This advocate doesn't know how to register new patients, so this is the conversation:
M- me
A- Advocate
S- Staff (medical)
A- switch me calls. That call has been waiting for you (the call is back on park after being rerouted to her)
M- this is also a new patient
A- can you put them on hold? They said they've been waiting more than five minutes
M- can you get a callback? Why do they specifically need me?
A- it's a new patient, they've been waiting for you, idk who put them on park originally. I just picked up the return.
M- S put the call on park and expected me to pick it up. I'm currently working with a patient, gimmie like two seconds
M- okay, I'm done. Did you get a name or callback number?
No response for about five minutes
M- it doesn't make sense for me to park a new patient to pick up another new patient. Please get callbacks if I can't answer. It's not fair to me or the patients. I'm going to message S as well, I need names and callbacks if I'm with another patient
A- if there was a patient already on hold and you pick up that call, it's not fair to that patient either. But don't worry, it's been taken care of
M- okay but if I didn't know it was on hold for me, how is that my fault? This isn't a don't worry situation, this is an ongoing problem.
A- I'm not saying it's your fault, it's a generalization. It is a don't worry situation and it's been taken care of
M- that's fair. It feels like it's being pushed into me, because now they know my name and that I wasn't able to pick up. It is a worry situation because this has happened before. We need to make sure patients are able to be picked up before we park them, and if they can't be picked up we need to get a callback number and name, just in general
And, crickets. I've asked A several times for callback names and numbers and expressed that this is a problem before, and they said they'd do it from then on. S never responds to anything. I got defensive at the end, I was frustrated. I feel like I've brought this up multiple times and I'm always the problem for wanting to do things right. My boss agreed we should be getting names and callback numbers, and I'm not sure if she's spoken with the whole office yet. I feel bad for the people who have to hear “please hold” and never get picked up, and I don't know why they are to call them back.
I'm comfortably close with a lot of people in the office. I buy the expensive candy and give it for free on my desk, bring food for the office, and my boss described me as “the happy, bubbly person we desperately need. We can give you anything and you're not afraid to tackle it”. I like being that happy bubbly person, but I'm not familiar with laying my foot down, if I should, or if I'm just being unfair here. I'm not very great at communicating with other people so I overcompensate by working hard and giving snacks to people. I have zero clue what to do. Help!