UHC Provider Service Ops Escalated Contact Center

Unitedhealthcare Provider Service Operations (UHC PSO) is business area within Unitedhealthcare. With over 5,800 global employees, we provide best in class multi- channel service to our nation's healthcare providers. This includes answering questions, resolving issues, and processing medical claim settlements. In 2024, PSO was the recipient of recognized with Gold and People's Choice Stevie Awards

Briefly describe the nominated team: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

The Escalated Contact Center (ECC) at United Healthcare's Provider Resolution Center manages complex, high-priority provider issues that frontline call advocates cannot resolve. The ECC team, composed of 67 domestic and 84 global partner employees, supports providers across Medicare & Retirement, Community & State, Employer & Individual, Surest, and UnitedHealthcare Strategic Platform through both calls and chats. Renowned for excellence in handling complex cases, coaching frontline staff, and maintaining provider communication, ECC leverages a broad network of internal and external partners for thorough case review and resolution. Upon identifying system defects or intricate provider concerns, ECC collaborates with specialized departments such as claim pricing, processing, provider relations, and data teams to conduct root-cause analyses, recommend fixes, and implement improvements. Acting as a liaison, ECC ensures comprehensive documentation, timely updates, and effective follow-through until resolution. This teamwork accelerates issue resolution, prevents recurrence, and upholds high service standards, fostering lasting trust with providers and continuously improving customer service operations.

Outline the team's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

The Escalated Contact Center (ECC) has made outstanding progress since July 2023, notably expanding to LivePerson Chat utilizing existing staff. In 2024, the team managed over 25K provider chats and 70K provider calls. In response to a major cybersecurity event, the team handled more than 1,000 critical provider calls between March and September 2024, demonstrating agility under pressure. So far in 2025, ECC has managed over 45K provider chats and 57K provider calls.

The team handles approximately 7.3K calls and 5.2K chats per month while achieving or exceeding their service level goals for Average Speed of Answer (ASA) and making significant improvements on Time to First Response (TTFR) as well as Turnaround Time.

In 2025, improvements in TTFR were achieved through comprehensive cross-training of ECC personnel for expanded lines of business, the addition of offshore staff, and enhanced workload distribution. As a result, TTFR was reduced by 742 seconds (12 minutes) between February and September. Furthermore, the average resolution time decreased from 6.53 days to 5.34 days in 2024 against a goal of seven days.

The ECC also enhanced aged inventory management and callback processes, solidifying operational excellence and trust with providers. As a result, Net Promoter Score (NPS) and User Experience Survey (UES) results are now significantly above targets and underscore the positive impact on provider satisfaction.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

What sets the Escalated Contact Center's achievements apart is the remarkable context in which they were accomplished. The team not only adapted to a rapidly evolving service landscape (integrating chat in 2024), but also weathered extraordinary adversity, including a major organizational restructuring. Despite these challenges, the ECC consistently delivered high-quality service, far surpassing industry benchmarks.

Operationally, the ECC's ability to manage over 57K calls and 41K chats year-to-date, while maintaining an Average Speed of Answer of 30.8 seconds against a 60-second goal, highlights their efficiency. The dramatic reduction in Time to First Response for chat from 798 seconds to just 66.3 seconds approaching goal exemplifies process innovation.

Their Employee Experience Index hit an impressive 92.8% with Manager Effectiveness scores above 92%, as well as an Intent to Stay rate of 91% which further reflects a deeply engaged and committed workforce. These figures are outstanding given the high-stress, high-stakes nature of escalated service environments.

These successes were made possible by seamless collaboration between domestic and offshore teams, and by strengthening aged issue management and frontline coaching. Collectively, these achievements showcase a team whose adaptability, engagement, and operational excellence are truly exceptional, setting a new standard for customer service in challenging times.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

• ECC Metrics: Call and Chat Metric Definitions, Chat Metric Results, Call Metric Results, Turn-around Time Results, Employee Survey Results
• Provider Spotlights: Highlights optional feedback from the Provider Survey following the resolution of their issue completed by an ECC Employees
• 2025 Employee Survey Comments: Highlights optional feedback from ECC Employees regarding leadership, team morale, and overall job satisfaction