For the 12th year in a row, Service Quality Measurement (SQM®) Group recognized BlueCross BlueShield® of South Carolina and BlueChoice® HealthPlan of South Carolina customer service advocates (CSAs) for their superior performances.
Sixty-four of our employees won awards in four categories: World Class Certified CSA, World Class Improvement CSA, Supervisor World Class and Supervisor World Class Improvement. This is the first time our company has had representation in all four of the major SQM individual award categories. This is an increase from the 51 employees that won last year.
World Class CX Certified CSAs have 85 percent or higher of their customer call surveys showing that the call was resolved and that the customer is “very satisfied” with the agent who handled their call.
This year, seven of our CSAs were among the top 50 finalists for SQM’s Agent of the Year award.
We also have three World Class Improvement winners.
Having 10 employees recognized is not only a record for our company. We have more finalists and improvement winners than any other company in North America.
Agent of the Year Finalists
World Class Improvement Winners
Agent of the Year finalists and World Class Improvement winners must be World-Class or Improvement Certified by SQM. They are selected based on their call center’s nomination stories that describe their outstanding customer service performance.
The company recently hosted a celebration to honor the SQM award recipients.
Here is the full list of winners:
BlueChoice HealthPlan
FEP
Group and Individual
Major Group World
Medicare Advantage
National Alliance
State Health Plan
Congratulations to all the award winners and thank you to our customer service employees for all you do for the company and our members!
Each issue of Communiqué will highlight an executive in one of our lines of business. We hope you will get to know the executives a little better, both professionally and personally.
This month, we introduce you to Matthew Agdish. He is the assistant vice president of underwriting for BlueChoice HealthPlan. He has been with the company for 18 months.
On March 21, CGS® business analyst Georgette Hartsell received a Quilt of Valor®, a handmade symbol of comfort and gratitude awarded to those touched by war. She accepted this prestigious honor in a heartfelt ceremony, surrounded by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina colleagues.
The Quilts of Valor Foundation began awarding quilts in 2003 as a way to thank service members and living veterans for their sacrifice and valor in serving our nation.
A veteran of operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield, Georgette said, “Thirty-four years ago still feels like yesterday.” Raised in a military family and later enlisting herself, Georgette volunteers much of her time with veterans. She offers support to those going back to civilian life. Her pride in the service shows through her special kinship and commitment to those who’ve served. “When I’m around other veterans, I’m at home,” she said. “We’re real peers and real friends.”
Georgette has found a strong community in the BlueCross Military Business Resource Group. It’s through this organization that Georgette met Valeria Green, who nominated Georgette for the Quilt of Valor award.
“It means a lot that somebody thought of me and cared enough to submit a nomination,” Georgette said. “I love my company. BlueCross has been good to me.”
Georgette’s manager, Ken McCullough, said that Georgette has a gift for connecting with and supporting fellow veterans. “She understands the challenges veterans face when transitioning to the private sector and meets them with friendship and empathy,” he said. “She is proud to have served in the Army, and I am proud to know her and work with her.”
Georgette is approaching her 25th work anniversary with BlueCross. During her first week of onboarding, she met a fellow veteran, the now-president and chief operating officer of CGS, Steve Smith.
“Georgette is an incredible asset to CGS who could not be more deserving of the honorable Quilt of Valor,” Smith said. “We’re inspired by her ongoing dedication to veterans affairs and appreciate the many lives she has touched through her generous spirit.”
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Military Business Resource Group at BlueCross, email Workplaceculture@bcbssc.com for more information.
In case you missed it, the spring issue of Giving is out now! Giving magazine’s focus is on how BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and its employees give back and make a difference in their communities. In Giving, you can learn about the nonprofits we support. You can read about fellow employees who are outstanding volunteers. You can even find out about employee fundraising campaigns and events.
This issue features Kids in Parks, Girls Scouts, Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, and South Carolina United Football Club. Learn more about a BlueCross social media series that shows the impact of two South Carolina nonprofits. Read profiles on employees Melissa Andrade and Kerri Flowers.
Read the full issue here!
If your hands begin to sweat and your throat goes dry at the thought of having to get up in front of a group of people and deliver a speech, you are not alone. In fact, 77 percent of people say they have a fear of public speaking. The level of fear varies from person to person but can range from simple nervousness or jitters to a full panic attack. But public speaking is often an expected part of modern business. For those who want to beat their fear or are perhaps looking to build their skills, the Blue Streak Toastmasters are here to help.
Founded here at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina in 1997, Blue Streak Toastmasters helps its members grow and build communication skills. The Toastmasters organization has been helping people communicate better and with more confidence with regular practice in fun, supportive groups since 1924. There are Toastmasters clubs all over, but Blue Streak Toastmasters is right here and always happy to meet new members.
Even if you aren’t necessarily afraid of public speaking, joining Blue Streak Toastmasters can help you in your career. Some of the benefits of joining the group are:
You can do all this without a major investment of your time. Blue Streak Toastmasters is a weekly meeting Wednesdays at noon virtually on Microsoft Teams. If you’d like to see what it’s all about, Blue Streak Toastmasters invites you to be a guest at a meeting. Learn more and see if you’d like to join. Email Deborah McCray, the Blue Streak Toastmasters vice president of membership, at Deborah.McCray@bcbssc.com or check out the organization online at toastmasters.org*.
Don’t let your fear of public speaking hold you or your career back. Put an appointment on your calendar with the Blue Streak Toastmasters. You’ll be glad you did.
*This link leads to a third-party website. Toastmasters is solely responsible for the contents and the privacy policy on its site.
But with the recommended shots, your child does not have to live in a bubble.
Parenting is a big job. You may want to keep your child isolated so you know he or she is always safe and healthy. Thanks to immunizations and health screenings, you can keep your child protected.
It is important for your child to get his or her wellness visits as recommended. These visits are a good chance for you and your child to talk with the pediatrician. During the visit, you can talk about your child’s growth, development, nutrition, current body mass index (BMI) percentile and more. For children 2 years and older, BMI (based on height and weight) is age- and gender-specific.
At these visits, your child will need certain vaccinations. These shots help prevent diseases such as whooping cough. Whooping cough has killed 10 to 20 babies each year since 2010 in the United States. Vaccines also help prevent measles, which is still present in the United States. Measles causes pneumonia, encephalitis and even death.
Vaccinating your child based on the recommended schedule provides the best chance to prevent whooping cough, measles and other serious diseases, such as these:
Your child’s doctor may suggest other vaccines, too.
When your child is older, he or she should still see his or her doctor each year for a wellness visit. Not only are there some vaccines that need boosters, but there are also screenings that need to take place for tweens.
Starting at ages 11 and 12, your kids should get the HPV vaccine. This vaccine can help prevent several kinds of cancer, including cervical. HPV infections cause cancer in both men and women. Each year, more than 37,000 men and women are diagnosed with cancers caused by HPV infections that the vaccine might have prevented.