1. Performance Improvement and Customer Service
Chapter 23
Performance Improvement and Customer Service

2. Quality of Care Major challenge
Balance between high-quality patient care and controlling costs
Patient satisfaction not correlated to amount spent
Difficult to measure

3. Quality Improvement
Role of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Decrease costs while maintaining quality
Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI)

4. Question True or False:
The U.S. ranks highest in quality of health care.

5. Answer False U.S. ranks highest in health care costs
But not in quality of care

6. Evaluation for Quality Improvement
Organizational structure
Health care professionals
Patient outcomes
Utilization review

7. Customer Service Essential to success Internal customers
External customers

8. Customer Service Customers evaluate entire experience
Avoid slipping into automatic mode
Focus on patient
Lawsuits most commonly related to whether patient likes health care workers
Fewer long-term relationships in health care

9. Lawsuits May be frivolous Time and money spent Stress
Many can be avoided by working to ensure customer satisfaction

10. Question True or False:
Whether a lawsuit is filed or not is frequently based on whether the patient liked the health care professional.

11. Answer
True
Lawsuits brought by patients more closely related to whether patient does or does not like health care professional than any other factor

12. Taking Responsibility for Quality
Relationship to supervisor
Patient advocacy

13. Good Quality Health Care
Doing the right thing
At the right time
In the right way
For the right person
Getting the best possible results

14. Customer Satisfaction
Methods to assess:
Mail questionnaires
Call customers
Maintain log of complaints
Satisfaction subjective

15. Customer Satisfaction
When working with unhappy customer:
Identify problem
Seek resolution
Verify satisfaction

16. Internal Customers Those working in health care industry
Areas of focus:
Good relationships with coworkers
Job satisfaction and pride in work
Constructive criticism
Destructive criticism

17. Question True or False:
Destructive criticism is never a positive event.

18. Answer
False
Destructive criticism is hard to receive, but looking for “kernel of truth” can be beneficial