Healthcare | Customer Service Solutions, Inc. - Page 18

Home  /  What’s Your HCAHPS Strategy?  /  Healthcare

4 Actions for the Customer - 9/10/24


One way to look at the difference between proactive and reactive is that proactive is something that’s often done before it absolutely has to be done.  Maybe it’s something done that really doesn’t have to occur, but your professionalism takes over, and some action or communication that you know Read more

Don’t Kick the Problem Down the Road - 9/3/24


The error was obvious.  Shania is a clerk at a local government office, and she could tell that something was wrong with the permit request.  She was about to reject the request because the address was invalid. If this would have been handled like the normal process, Shania would have Read more

Reflect the Best of Your Customers - 8/27/24


When Alice walks into a business, whether it’s a restaurant or government building, whether it’s a Goodwill or a grocery store, she has a certain way about her.  She’s the customer, and it’s not unusual to hear her say to the employee:  Thanks for being here today! It’s not unusual Read more

Create Your Personal Motto - 8/20/24


Take a look at these mottos: It’s the real thing. Just Do It. Have it your way. Betcha can’t eat just one. Breakfast of champions. Do you know the companies?  The answers are at the bottom of this tip. So why am I asking you about mottos?  And why do almost all of them make me Read more

Create MAGIC with Your Customers - 8/13/24


Years ago, we worked with the Orlando Magic in the NBA, and they needed more consistency in their customer service – they needed a standard of engagement with the fans and their account holders.  They were trying to identify the “Orlando Magic Way” – their desired customer experience with Read more

Build Strong Customer Connections - 8/6/24


We’ve worked in health care, education, local government, finance, pro sports, and many other industries.  And while our clients’ customers are often different, their specific scenarios for engaging those customers are different, and policies and procedures are different - there’s one thing that is pretty similar.  And that is Read more

Running Late in the Rainstorm - 7/30/24


The mom was a little panicked.  She had just left work and had run into an unexpected popup rainstorm, and traffic had come to a halt.  She was on her way to pick up her 4-year old at childcare.  The facility had a policy of charging a fee for Read more

Use AI to Improve Your Performance - 7/23/24


Many companies are integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into some aspect of their business.  This could greatly change how they operate, how they communicate with customers. This AI wave reminds me of a story from 20+ years ago when a stock brokerage firm launched a new website that greatly enhanced the Read more

The New Burger Experience - 7/16/24


Floyd loves a good hamburger. Any chance he gets to try a new spin on an old standby, he takes it. Recently, a burger joint opened near his house, and Floyd was very excited! It was owned by and named for a world-renowned chef, so it had to be Read more

Boost Customer Happiness - 7/9/24


There’s a cooking show that a friend of mine watches, and the premise is all about reverse engineering food.  They may take a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, analyze it, and determine the ingredients just by tasting it.  Then they figure out a recipe.  The cook will try to make Read more

•••••

What’s Your HCAHPS Strategy?

Posted on August 21, 2009 in Healthcare Please leave a comment

As healthcare administrators know, HCAHPS is a comparative database to which they are reporting many different pieces of information about hospital performance, including customer service and patient satisfaction indicators.  Essentially, any individual with web access (i.e., any current or prospective customer) can go to the internet and compare your organization side-by-side with other local hospitals.  It’s a scary thought to have that kind of comparative information readily available to your customers, when you have no control over what’s displayed or how it’s displayed.

When organizations have issues in the patient satisfaction or customer service indicators, they immediately think of the need to do scripting with nurses or rounding on the floors, or training for personnel.  And while these might all be appropriate actions to take, these are typically only a part of a strategic action plan.  If you want to make adjustments and improvements in customer service and patient satisfaction performance, at some point you need to have a strategy behind it.  Most hospitals have marketing strategies. They have advertising strategies.  They do detailed planning when opening up a new wing or building a new patient tower.  But how many of them have a customer service strategy?

An effective customer service strategy focuses on the customer experience, service delivery, the corporate culture, and metrics to measure all of those components.  It focuses on management’s role in preaching and modeling the types of behaviors that lead to high levels of customer and patient satisfaction.  It has tactics listed out in a Gantt Chart format over time that helps to change the culture, get more focused on the patient, and specifically help employees to know what to do right and how to stop doing what’s causing problems.

If you want long-term success in your organization in the areas of customer service and patient satisfaction, develop, commit to, and execute a Customer Service Strategy.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service?  See more information at:  http://www.cssamerica.com/


In Hospitals, Personal Care is About Customer Service

Posted on July 7, 2009 in Healthcare Please leave a comment

Patients go to hospitals to take their pain away, to have their broken bones healed, to have their injuries diagnosed, to have their elective surgeries, and to give birth to their bouncing new babies.

And even though this care is provided to address their needs and pains and injuries, how many patients feel that they’re being cared for as a person has little to do with the healthcare.  Instead, it has all to do with the customer service that the patient receives.  Yes, the phlebotomist is drawing the blood, but is the employee so focused on the vein that they don’t interact with the person from whom they’re drawing the blood?  Yes, the surgeon is about to perform surgery, but is the wait so long and the communication so lacking during the wait that the patient feels like she’s been forgotten?  Yes, the emergency room staff will eventually care for the injury, but are they so focused on tasks and activities and paperwork that the patient feels like a cog on the assembly line?

Patients go to hospitals for the healthcare, but they often choose a particular hospital because of the customer service.  Do the employees greet and focus on the patient?  Are they patient with the patient?  Do they take ownership over needs and treat the patient with courtesy and respect?  Do they try to find solutions to problems, or do they simply get defensive or blame co-workers when issues arise?  Are they quick in responding to the call bell or the phone call?  Do they explain what will happen next and why?  Are they empathetic and caring when they perform their services?

The hospital’s product is the healthcare, but the patient’s point of reference in determining how they’re cared for as a person is all about how they’re communicated with, how they’re treated, and what the processes are like.  It’s about customer service.

Interested in improving your company’s customer service?  See more information at:  http://www.cssamerica.com/


« Previous   1 2 ... 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18