When a colleague recently told me his hospital was going to put their focus and resources on inpatient units because of Value Based Purchasing (VBP), I cringed just a little.  Hospitals that lean too much in the patient’s direction may unknowingly alienate customers, i.e., everyone else. (more…)

The article from Accenture entitled The 7 Things Your Health Insurance Customers Are Not Telling You: And What To Do About Them talks about a study they conducted and how understanding consumer perception is becoming even more critical.

Any healthcare provider who takes a one-size-fits-all approach to patients, does so at their own peril because they are doomed to repeat the same satisfaction outcome over and over again. My feeling is that if you can recognize the type of patient you are working with, you have a much better chance of altering that outcome. (more…)

Given how incredibly unpredictable, illogical, and unknowledgeable some customers can be, relinquishing power to them may sound a little crazy. (more…)

Our healthcare mystery shopping has shown that there is nothing more important in a customer/employee encounter than the first few seconds when the customer chooses to engage an employee. And acknowledging customers is perhaps the most important customer service behavior because it serves as the starting point for every encounter. (more…)