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New York Society Healthcare Consumer Advocacy |
Newsletter Coordinator A. Woodward & Associates Logo
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About A. Woodward & Associates
Our company's primary focus is to help clients develop healthy patient and
staff relationships. Our consulting services are customized to your
organization, and your specific needs. Areas of expertise include customer
service, organizational communications and employee relations.
A. Woodward & Associates was established in 1999 by Anita B. Woodward, MBA, CHE.
Based in Cleveland, Ohio, we also have clients on both the West and East coasts.
Anita has over 20 years of healthcare management, customer service, and human
resource experience.
October 2004 Newsletter
Top Ten Customer Service Mistakes
in Healthcare - Part 2
In our last issue, we wrote about the Top Ten customer service mistakes as
perceived by the patient or family member. Many people wrote to tell us we
hit the nail on the head. This month, we are writing about the Top Ten
organizational mistakes that we see, in our consulting role. These Top Ten
create the kind of environment that makes the patient's Top Ten possible.
If you are interested in learning more about these organizational Top Ten,
or if you would like to have help conducting an assessment to see where you
stand relative to this list, please contact us at awoodw3369@aol.com
woodw3369@aol.com.
We would also love to hear from our readers. Does this list hit the mark?
Are there other factors you think are bigger mistakes? Please drop us a line
and give us your feedback.
#10 - No Service Recovery Plan
- Staff not encouraged or expected to deal with unhappy patients
- Staff not given training or tools to "make it right"
- Staff not given access to timely help
- Result is staff hide from unhappy patients
#9 - Inadequate Recognition and Reward
- It's a truism - Behavior that is noticed is repeated
- Management doesn't reward "expected" behavior; only "over and above"
- Even verbal "thanks" underutilized
- Financial incentives not aligned with service goals
- R&R systems don't motivate any more
#8 - Inadequate Training
- Senior Leadership doesn't know how to lead for Service Excellence
- Middle managers need rationale, goals, management expectations and help
leading staff
- Staff need rationale, goals, expectations
- Physicians need information, too
#7 - Inadequate Communication
- Service Excellence should be topic on every meeting agenda
- Repeat, repeat, repeat information about service
- Use multiple media
- Leaders should bring it into informal conversations whenever possible
#6 - Lack of Employee Involvement/Empowerment
- Rules made without employee input
- Rationale, goals, current status not shared with employees
- Employees not included in planning for improvements
- Employee suggestions not valued
- Employees not trusted
#5 - No Standards of Behavior
- No Standards have been adopted
- Standards exist, but are not taught
- Standards exist, but are too general to be useful
- No accountability for adhering to standards
#4 - Lack of Patient Focus in Decision-Making
- Decisions made based on needs of hospital, doctors or staff
- No patient advisory group
- Patients not included on improvement teams
- No one assigned role of "patient representative" in planning meetings
- No Patient Representative in organization
#3 - No Infrastructure to Support Service
- Service Excellence not an organized, ongoing effort
- No specific plan, goals, etc.
- Little tangible support given to individuals who want to improve service
#2 - Inadequate Attention by Senior Management
- If Service Excellence is rarely mentioned, it is not a priority
- If budget is always mentioned first, Service is not a priority
- If good Service is not rewarded, it is not a priority
- If it is not a priority, it will not happen
#1 - Lack of Accountability for Service
- Staff not held accountable by immediate managers
- Middle managers not held accountable by senior leaders
- Senior leaders not held accountable by CEO
- No specific expectations established
Real Life Customer Service Case
The following situation really occurred. Consider using it as the basis for
discussion at a staff meeting. Let us know your results by emailing us at
awoodw3369@aol.com
awoodw3369@aol.com.
The patient had first pushed her buzzer about 20 minutes earlier, so when
the nurse walked into the room, the first thing the patient said was "I've
been waiting forever. What took you so long?" The nurse immediately felt
she'd been put on the spot, and responded "I'm really sorry Mrs. Jones, but
we're short-staffed today. I got here as quickly as I could."
* Could this scenario happen in your facility? Does it happen?
* What was the nurse's goal in making this statement?
* How might the patient have felt at hearing this answer?
* What would have been a more effective response in this situation?
* How should you respond when a patient asks a difficult question?
* What similar incidents might occur in a non-clinical area? How could
a difficult question be handled?
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
Anita Woodward, CHE, will be speaking in the following locations in the next
few months. Please stop by to visit, and let her know how we can make our
e-newsletter more useful to you.
* October 18 - 19, Jackson Organization Client Conference, held at the
Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort and Spa. More information at
http://www.jacksonorganization.com
* October 20, Professional Association of Health Care Management
Annual Conference, held at the Radisson hotel, Akron City Centre. More
information by contacting Sami Spencer at 330-379-5693 or
samispencer22@aol.com
* November 4 - 5, Ohio Society of Healthcare Consumer Advocacy Fall
Conference, held at the Cherry Valley Lodge, Newark, OH. More information by
contacting Paula Almendinger at OHA, 614-221-7614.
We all grow when we learn from each other!
Let us know if you find this newsletter helpful. If you have a case study
you would like us to include, or if there are certain topics you would like
to see addressed, please tell us at
awoodw3369@aol.com
About This Newsletter
This newsletter is published for clients and colleagues of A. Woodward &
Associates, and for others who are interested in customer service, employee
relations, and organizational communication, especially in healthcare
organizations.
If you would like to add someone to our subscriber list, please contact us
at awoodw3369@aol.com
awoodw3369@aol.com (or simply reply to this
email). If this is reaching you in error, we apologize. To unsubscribe,
please email us at the above email address and put "Unsubscribe" in the
subject line.
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Anita Woodward & Associates
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