Learn More: http://earthlinkbusiness.com Challenges The behavioral health organization needed to replace their aging phone system. The system no longer met their rapidly changing needs and they were unable to get replacement parts which impacted the ability to provide a high level of patient care. They also faced the expensive capital expense of a new phone system. Solution EarthLink CompleteTM Hosted Voice provided Meridian Community Care with a flexible system to meet both current and future needs. Hosted Voice was installed at the main office with an auto attendant which allows callers to easily reach employees. Call routing was implemented to improve after hours coverage. Hosted Voice also allows for the easy addition and integration of other offices when needed. Results Meridian Community Care implemented a system that provided a simple integrated system to use and manage. They avoided a significant capital expenditure. Employees and caretakers have better access with the auto attendant and direct dial extensions with voicemail. The system is also able to grow as they integrate additional locations. Critical after hours coverage was also improved with call routing features.

1. “
CASE STUDY Meridian Community Care
Meridian Community Care is saving lives and
serving communities
“
Expanding non-profit organization unifies communications to
improve operations and patient care
“We’re very pleased with the increased productivity and feature-rich
performance of EarthLink Hosted Voice service. Hosted Voice has
improved our communications to provide a higher level of patient care.”
– Bob Steffen
Director of Operations, Meridian Community Care
Challenges
Solution
EarthLink CompleteTM Hosted Voice
provided Meridian Community
Care with a flexible system to meet
both current and future needs.
Hosted Voice was installed at the
main office with an auto attendant
which allows callers to easily
reach employees. Call routing was
implemented to improve after hours
coverage. Hosted Voice also allows
for the easy addition and integration
of other offices when needed.
Results
Meridian Community Care
implemented a system that provided
a simple integrated system to
use and manage. They avoided
a significant capital expenditure.
Employees and caretakers have
better access with the auto
attendant and direct dial extensions
with voicemail. The system is also
able to grow as they integrate
additional locations. Critical after
hours coverage was also improved
with call routing features.
Business Challenges
When it comes to Meridian Community Care, “Saving Lives, Serving
Communities,” isn’t just a nice catch-phrase. It’s their mission. For
more than 40 years, the Youngstown, Ohio-based non-profit behavioral
health organization has offered a wide variety of services to individuals
and families struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Services have
grown over the years to include Adult and Adolescent Outpatient and
Residential treatment for substance abuse, Medication Assisted treatment,
Co-occuring treatment for individuals that have both mental health and
addiction needs, Gambling treatment, Short-term counseling, Family
programming, Veteran programming, Prevention Programs, employee
assistance programming, primary healthcare and more. Regardless
of the services needed, one thing is consistent across the organization.
Everyone involved understands how important it is to provide a human
touch when someone calls seeking assistance.
As the variety of services Meridian offers has evolved, so has their footprint,
with the organization acquiring a second facility. The expansion reinforced
a pain point as they considered their existing phone system. “We were
working with a number of different systems, and finding it progressively
difficult to support all of them,” said Bob Steffen, Director of Operations,
Meridian Community Care. “We actually had three different phone systems
in one building. Internal communications were challenging, let alone speaking
to someone from the community,” Steffen said. “We want to make sure to
provide a live voice on the other end of the phone. It’s imperative. We could
not find parts for the system at our main location which impacted our ability
to provide support to our patients. We also faced an expensive capital outlay
for a new phone system.”
The Solution
After considering different options, Steffen and his team determined that
EarthLink Complete Hosted Voice offered the fully integrated system that
provides the features and benefits they need now, while also providing the
flexibility to grow and expand with the organization.
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Meridian Community Care Case Study 2013
© 2013 EarthLink, Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. 1071-07151
The behavioral health organization
needed to replace their aging phone
system. The system no longer met
their rapidly changing needs and
they were unable to get replacement
parts which impacted the ability to
provide a high level of patient care.
They also faced the expensive
capital expense of a new phone
system.

2. CASE STUDY Meridian Community Care
“We upgraded our system
and made significant
improvements in operations
and communications. We
The Solution continued
From the start of their search, Meridian Community Care knew they wanted
an IP solution. In partnering with EarthLink Business, they were able to unify
the myriad phone systems they had in place across the organization while
setting the foundation for future expansion into their second location.
met our goals without
spending capital dollars and
are set up to easily integrate
our additional locations.
“EarthLink offered a system that allowed us to consolidate our phone system
and helped position us to be consistently and continuously available for our
community, whenever the need arises.”
This allows us to provide a
the community.”
The Hosted Voice solution offers the unified system they were searching for,
and provides many more features compared to their older system. Features
such as Find Me/Follow Me – a major consideration in their decision-making
– and the flexibility to forward calls to a cell phone provide a level of flexibility
that help employees provide better care for patients. This is especially helpful
after hours, when a call center helps route inquiries quickly to the counselors
on call. The new system also helps the organization meet specific healthcare
regulations such as those outlined by HIPPA and 42CFR. With regard to
privacy and anonymity rights for individuals and families seeking care, Hosted
Voice allows the organization to keep callers anonymous. “When making
outbound calls, we do not allow the caller ID to specify Meridian Care Center,
which protects the privacy of our patients.”
“By implementing Hosted Voice as an operating expense, we avoided
a significant capital outlay. We also save a lot of time by making simple
changes through the CommPortal rather than waiting and paying for a
vendor to make changes.”
Positioned for the Future
Meridian Community Care continues
to expand and evolve the services
they provide to the community. With
a forward-focus on an integrated
healthcare model that will address
both addiction and related medical
issues, as well as anti-bullying
programs, the organization is wellpositioned to meet the ever-changing
needs of the community. EarthLink
Complete Hosted Voice offers the
most recent technology as soon
as it’s available. It also provides
flexibility and scalability as the
organization grows. “We will be able
to easily add in additional locations
and use one auto-attendant which
will further simplify communications.
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We don’t need to ‘own’ the phone
system anymore. Everything can
be delivered through the cloud.
We would rather enjoy equipment
upgrades and leave any maintenance
issues to EarthLink,” Steffen shared.
Meridian Community Care Case Study 2013
© 2013 EarthLink, Inc. Trademarks are property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. 1071-07151
higher level of service to