Q House Job Pitch: Yale CARE Callers

Ari D. took a step towards making a hoped-for career change from working with cars to working with doctors and patients — as she joined 20 fellow New Haveners for a Dixwell info session about all-remote, customer-service ​“caller” jobs at the Yale Medicine CARE Center.

That info session took place Monday evening at the Q House at 197 Dixwell Ave. It marked the latest effort by Yale’s New Haven Hiring Initiative to inform locals about employment opportunities at the university.

CARE Center Manager Antoinette Perry and New Haven Hiring Initiative Community Outreach and Engagement Manager Fallon Thomas gave a presentation, explaining the demands of the available jobs. A representative with New Haven Works was also present, ready to help prospective applicants apply to the jobs through the program.

Perry explained that Yale Medicine’s CARE Center, which opened in 2019, stands for Coordination, Appointment, Referral & Engagement. Ideally, CARE workers serve as a single point of entry to connect with Yale Medicine’s physicians. These callers help with ambulatory appointment scheduling, referral management, care coordination, nurse triage, and transition of care planning.

Perry emphasized ​“stellar customer service,” mentioning that sometimes, potential patients might turn away life saving help due to off-putting interactions over the phone.

“It’s so important that we are that first patient contact,” Perry said. ​“But we can make or break that patient ever coming back again.”

The need for intercommunication service workers has grown over the years. Perry said that just a few years ago, there were two or three specialties with CARE. Now, the program oversees 19 different specialties, ranging from neurosurgery to urology to plastic surgery departments.

Prospective workers will be trained for three weeks, learning the different online softwares that help organize physician information, so as to be able to connect patients promptly. Then, for a week to two weeks after the training period, prospective workers will shadow with callers, and receive feedback on their own calls.

Perry also explained that within a specialty, there are pods of about 30 people, made up of a variety of intercommunication jobs, such as schedulers, referral specialists, managers. Each pod, to Perry’s estimate, receives around 1,100 to 1,200 calls a day, thus the increased need for support. Each worker will receive a laptop, keyboard, and a mouse when hired to ensure that they will be able to work remotely.

For Rynasia Baldwin, the remote work aspect of the job is the reason why she will be applying. Currently, Baldwin works in a hybrid position, part in-person and part remote, as an administrative assistant at City Hall. She noted that there isn’t much ​“traffic” or ​“back and forth” in-person with her team. The experience thus far has made her curious about remote working in general.

As to the software knowledge that prospective callers must have to work the job, Baldwin said that she feels comfortable. She had previous experience with certain softwares when she participated in the Health Equity Fellowship, a partnership between Yale School of Public Health and Southern Connecticut State University to help more New Haven students gain public health work experience.

And for Ari D., another attendee at Monday’s info session, the new job opportunity is a way to pivot from her current work in the automotive industry. Noting the automotive industry’s unstable hours and pay, she said she is looking for something more stable, as well as something that will help her toward her own career aspirations. Ari eventually wants to have a career in medicine, and is trying to get into Gateway Community College’s radiography program.

“I really want to do something that makes a difference,” Ari said. ​“I feel like if I’m able to help by scheduling people for their appointments and whatnot, it’ll get me a little bit familiar with the technologies that are used behind the scenes.”