readmission | Customer Service Solutions, Inc.

The Secret Sauce for Great Customer Service - 3/26/24


I was working with the League Office for a major American sport several years back, and one of the executives asked me to describe our Secret Sauce that helped our clients improve the fan experience and customer retention.  I gave him a sense of what makes us unique and Read more

The Miracle of an Apology - 3/19/24


Unfortunate but true story… The manager basically lost his mind.  He terminated his employee on the spot.  She had told the customer that there was going to be a delay in the shipment.  The employee called up the customer ahead of time to let the customer know what was about Read more

It’s Not About the 5-Minute Wait - 3/12/24


Robert went into his supervisor’s office to update her on a situation at the payment desk.  Robert said that a customer was about fourth or fifth in line, waiting to be served, and the customer was complaining loudly about the wait.  He was there to make a property tax Read more

Lessons from the Greats - 3/5/24


I was recently facilitating a workshop on the customer experience, and I made the point that it’s usually beneficial to look at your personal life for great experiences; identify what really resonates with you in a positive way in order to uncover ideas to improve your own customer service. So, Read more

The Empathy Roadmap - 2/27/24


For some people, empathy comes naturally.  There’s an innate desire to learn about the other person and to sincerely convey that sense of interest and caring.  But for many of us, sometimes it helps to have a communication plan.  It helps to know what to do in order to Read more

“You’re the Boss” - 2/20/24


Terrence is excellent at what he does.  From a technical standpoint, he knows how to keep the facility clean.  He’s the lead custodian, and he knows that keeping things straight does not necessarily mean keeping things sanitary.  He knows what chemicals to use and not to use, how to Read more

Customer Understanding Leads to Relationship Growth - 2/13/24


We’ve worked with educational organizations at all grade levels over the years.  One special and unique characteristic about the staff who work in these organizations is that there’s a clear intent to know about the students as individuals, to focus on them rather than purely focusing on what’s delivered Read more

Define Customer Service Success Differently - 2/6/24


When I’m watching television, listening to the radio, or listening to a podcast, it’s always interesting when the topic moves to the question:  How can you be a success?  The speakers often discuss the process of becoming a success with the assumption that people believe success is defined by Read more

Care Enough to Give Them a Heads Up - 1/30/24


Nothing bad at all might happen.  Every day in the office could seem like every other day.  Sights and sounds and smells might continue to be the same.  But we have a lot of construction going on around our offices, and the building manager knows the type of work Read more

Be Better than AI Customer Service - 1/23/24


There was a recent CBS Sunday Morning Show story called: How artificial intelligence is revamping customer call centers. The journalist described how artificial intelligence is being used in customer service, and he noted the millions of pieces of information that can be processed in a matter of seconds. There are clear Read more

Patient Satisfaction – Driven by What You Do After They Leave

Posted on in Business Advice, Healthcare Please leave a comment

The nurses.com article Discharge calls help nurses affect readmission rates, patient satisfaction notes that an increasing trend of calling patients post-discharge is having positive effects on patient outcomes and satisfaction. At one hospital, the calls involve social workers contacting patients to gauge the patient’s mindset (“psychosocial” state) as well as determine whether they’re getting their clinical needs met.

Generalizing what’s done here to apply to any industry, the customer is contacted soon after the transaction to gauge satisfaction (i.e., how they’re feeling mentally) and to follow-up to ensure that whatever next steps were identified are being addressed.

But before we say “this is too much work to contact every patient or customer…” after every encounter, let’s focus on another finding in the article. One facility looks at the home care population, and a member of management stated that “we stratify them into high risk, moderate risk and low risk. If they are high risk, they will also have a nurse practitioner with a specialty in heart failure either calling them or visiting their home within 72 hours of discharge.”

This is the key to being efficient and most effective – stratifying your patient base. Organizations that want to drive high levels of patient satisfaction need to realize that they must keep relationships fresh, they must gauge patient perceptions post-discharge, they must ensure that appropriate follow-up and compliance with post-discharge instructions are occurring. But they also must NOT view every patient the same.

Some patients are more at-risk of readmission, more likely not to return if dissatisfied, more driven to be satisfied/dissatisfied based on their relationship with the organization.

When you look to reduce readmissions and improve patient satisfaction, do the necessary follow-up and relationship-building in a targeted manner to make those improvements with efficiencies.

Remember that patient satisfaction is often driven by what you do AFTER they leave.

Interested in improving your hospital’s patient satisfaction? See our other blog posts at: http://serviceadvice.cssamerica.com/category/healthcare/

Check out our patient satisfaction improvement services at: http://cssamerica.com/csshealth.htm