1. Customer Service
In Healthcare

2. Objective
6.32 Demonstrate respectful and empathetic treatment of ALL patients/clients. (customer service)
Teacher Notes:
Let students know that teaching customer service skills to healthcare professionals is somewhat new. You may want to share with students the training you have had, or not had, in customer service. Most health science textbooks do not address customer service skills at any length, although the lines between professional behavior and customer service skills are often blurred.

3. Does it Matter in Healthcare?
YES!
The healthcare market is competitive.
Patients have choices.
Patients evaluate the entire experience.
Have you or a family member ever made the decision to switch healthcare providers? Why?
Teacher notes:
Allow students to share some personal answers to the last question. Most adults can easily think of a time they switched healthcare providers, although students may have far fewer personal experiences. The point of the discussion is to help students think about the fact that poor customer service in health care can lead to patients/clients changing their healthcare provider.

4. Patient Expectations
Need to meet patients’ expectations in order for them to be satisfied.
Health care workers are responsible for patient satisfaction.
What is the cost of an unhappy patient?
Teacher notes:
By this time, the student should know that an unhappy patient will often switch healthcare providers. Although, you might also ask:
1. Are there times when a patient feels he/she can’t switch healthcare providers?
Do you think patients are ever too intimidated by a healthcare provider to switch?
Do you think patients ever continue to go to a healthcare provider they don’t like because that healthcare provider is associated with another healthcare provider they like a lot?

5. What’s it Like to be a Patient?
Do you think most patients find the world of health care to be frightening and stressful?
How do you feel when you are receiving healthcare?
Does the “fear factor” that is often associated with health care create a greater need for healthcare worker kindness?
Teacher notes:
The point of this slide is to suggest that customer service skills are MORE IMPORTANT in healthcare than in most other service industries because the person receiving health care is often at a disadvantage. He/she may be sick, in pain, or facing a life-threatening illness. Healthcare is expensive, and often invasive. For many patients, being a healthcare consumer is not something they do regularly.
You might want to ask a student about his/her orthodontic experience. Most will tell you that the first few visits were frightening and somewhat uncomfortable. After six months or so of regular visits, it’s not as bad. BUT, most people don’t have regular, repeated visits, and they experience more of a fear factor when receiving health care.

6. Patient Service Questions
How long did you wait before being seen?
Were you informed of any delays?
Were you given clear instructions?
Were all your questions answered, and were you given info about how to have future questions answered?
Were all procedures explained?
Were all personnel courteous and compassionate?
Teacher Notes:
These are questions that your students could ask friends/family about their last doctor, dental or veterinarian visit. They highlight points to be considered in providing good customer service.

7. What Should Healthcare Workers Do?
Smile when appropriate.
ALWAYS speak warmly and courteously.
Use professional language – and use the patient’s name.
NEVER tell patients your personal problems, and be careful about giving any personal information.
Focus on the patient’s needs.
Teacher notes:
These are strategies that healthcare workers should practice.
Smile only when appropriate, which is most of the time. Ask students to give you examples when perhaps it would be better if the healthcare worker didn’t greet the patient with a smile.
ALWAYS speak courteously. Use warmth in your voice. Ask students if it is possible to be courteous but “superior?“ How does that make them feel when someone is courteous but condescending?
Don’t call patients “sweetie” or any other nicknames, and don’t call them by first names unless they are children. However, do make an effort to use the person’s name.
Patients don’t need to hear your problems. Ever.
Healthcare workers should focus on the needs of the patient and not the convenience of the healthcare worker.

8. Did you Know?
Medical lawsuits are mostly related to whether or not the patient likes you.
ANY lawsuit, warranted or not, is extremely stressful for everyone involved.
Many lawsuits can be avoided if healthcare workers assure that patients are satisfied with their care.
Teacher notes:
This is VERY important! Ask students what they think about the facts presented in this slide.

9. Facts About Customer Satisfaction
A good experience is told to 8 people, and bad experience to 22!
7 out of 10 patients who change providers do so because of poor service or indifference toward them.
Satisfying and retaining current patients is times cheaper than attracting new patients.
70% of complaining patients will return if you resolve the complaint in their favor.
Teacher notes;
These are general customer satisfaction statistics.
For discussion on the last point, ask students to give examples of a time they were not satisfied with something that happened to them in a healthcare setting. Then, see if the class can suggestion ways that the complaint could have been resolved. (What SHOULD the healthcare worker have done?)

10. How to Handle a Complaint
If possible, sit at eye level with the patient.
Take notes on what the patient says.
Ask questions to clarify but DO NOT be defensive.
Try to understand the problem from the patient’s point of view.
Thank the patient.
Teacher notes:
These skills are very important and can be practiced in class.

11. Seek Resolution
If you are the problem – apologize, and thank the patient for his/her feedback.
If you need more information, let the patient know you’ll get back to him/her.
Provide information the patient might be lacking. (Without defending.)
Try to find a resolution to the satisfaction of the patient.
Teacher Notes:
Attempts at fixing a problem are called “service recovery.” This indicates a service issue and attempts to recover the patient’s good will. Help students understand that all service challenges are not necessarily errors, but being right AND losing a client doesn’t provide a good outcome for a healthcare provider.
Your students may have heard the cliché “the customer is always right.” In healthcare, we believe “the patient always matters.” The patient may not necessarily be right, but his/her feelings and concerns should always matter to the healthcare provider.
For example, Mrs. Jones has teeny tiny veins, and the phlebotomist blows the first vein and then misses the second. The patient becomes visibly upset. What should the phlebotomist do?
Apologize, and mean it.
Don’t make a lot of excuses, but let the patient know you understand her pain and frustration.
Get a cool compress to apply to the missed sites, and then,
Get your supervisor or another phlebotomist to draw the blood. It’s usually best not to stick the same patient a 3rd time.
This is just an example of a healthcare worker trying to make the patient feel better and well cared for. Did the phlebotomist “make a mistake?” Maybe not, but he/she does need to take steps to go above and beyond in showing caring for the patient.

12. Service Recovery
Service recovery involves the service provider taking responsive action to "recover" lost or dissatisfied customers, to alter their negative perceptions, convert them into satisfied customers, and to ultimately maintain a business relationship with them.

13. Service Recovery What to do? Own up to the mistake Make it right – by:
Apologizing profusely
Fixing what you can fix
When possible, by providing reasonable compensation.

14. Customer Service for ALL Patients
If you follow the rules for providing excellent customer service for your patients, and you respect your patients’ rights, is there a need to have special strategies for caring for the very young, the very old, or economically disadvantaged patients?
Teacher Notes:
This is no wrong answer here, but certainly room for discussion. What do your students think?