Creating a Customer Service-Oriented Practice

You know the saying, “There is no ‘I’ in team.” Creating a good patient experience is a team effort. Customer service arguably is one of the most critical factors in an organization’s long-term success.

“The first and last moments of a customer interaction are what a customer is likely to hold in memory as the permanent ‘snapshot’ that encompasses the whole event,” according to Micah Solomon, customer service and patient experience consultant and a bestselling author.

Practices that are going to excel in customer service, retain loyal patients and improve the patient experience need to have an organizational culture and structure in place that is customer service focused.

It starts at the top with the CEO and management team who create the philosophies and goals for a service-oriented practice. And every staff member marches to that tune.

From the janitor to the receptionist to the manager and doctor – all need to have a customer service focused approach. It sounds simple, but is often overlooked.

Companies like Lexus and The Ritz Carlton have adopted customer service models. And with the patients being more like consumers every day, it’s time healthcare looked at how successful businesses engage customers. The Ritz Carlton’s model is one of a systems-approach, if a mistake happens more than once, the system needs to be reviewed and fixed. There’s no time for pointing fingers on who is to blame.

Lexus’s model minimizes the “handoff” – reducing the number of different people communicating with their customers. Makes sense. Think about how many times you transfer a patient in your practice to a different staff member or department, and that patient has to explain themselves over and over – it would be irritating, right?

There are a million different ways to create a customer service-oriented practice. Try these simple steps to improve customer service in your practice.

1. Make a good first impression (studies show that 50 percent of a patient's opinion of a doctor or business is based on the first impression)
2. Smile – no matter how challenging the patient is, SMILE!
3. Institute a can-do attitude among ALL employees
4. Train employees on how to handle a customer complaint or whom to refer them to
5. Don’t stand for bullying among employees (an employee who bullies is likely to bully patients too)
6. Pay attention to your verbal and nonverbal communications
7. Institute a “blame free” environment – focus on fixing the overall system
8. Think like a patient
9. Keep wait times to a minimum
10. Don’t ever blame the customer
11. Follow through and make sure the patient’s needs are met
12. Speak in terms patients understand – not medical jargon
13. Work as a TEAM

1. customer service