Volume 24 • No. 5 • MAY 2000

A Novel Thought?
Hospital turns toward service

Response prepared to national medical errors report

Hospital's join forces to balance budget

How attitudes toward pain can influence its effect

A systematic effort to improve patient (customer) service - including enhanced physician input and involvement - has been launched by Stanford Hospital and Clinics.

Improved customer satisfaction is one of four key goals identified by chief executive officer Malinda Mitchell in April, following the dissolution of the UCSF Stanford Health Care merger. The other goals are volume and program growth, reimbursement improvements and staff retention, given Silicon Valley's high living cost and competitive job market.

Cindy Day, SHC vice president for clinical support and medical staff affairs, and Kathy Van Camp, SHC vice president for quality assurance and medical staff services, told the Deputy Chiefs/Medical Center Task Force on April 19 that the customer service program is in a fact-finding stage and that a task force would be led by physicians and senior administrators to identify key problems and formulate solutions.

"A recent patient satisfaction survey indicated that in many areas we exceed performance levels of similar teaching hospitals but there are some areas where we want to improve," Day said.

She added that in the last quarter, overall satisfaction in many areas has increased. Day said the institution will also consider increasing the timeliness of consumer surveys. SHC currently receives the results of its satisfaction surveys quarterly, Day said. However, the University of Chicago, which by reputation has a highly successful patient satisfaction program, collects information and returns it to employees on a daily basis, Day noted.

At the meeting, Day asked physicians for their input on the following issues:
- What feedback about services do you get from your patients?
- What do you believe the priorities for service improvement should be?
- In what manner would you like to be solicited by SHC for ongoing information?
- In what manner would you like to receive information from SHC?

Medical staff members with thoughts about these communication or implementation issues are invited to contact Day (650) 723-5620 or cindy.day@medcenter.org.

Planning for the customer service program has already begun, Day and Van Camp said. Specific elements of the program will involve fine-tuning of training and creation of standards to help employees deliver care that is more customer-friendly.

The next steps include getting physicians involved in offering feedback and serving on advisory groups, providing direction to the planning committee (which will include physicians), visiting other medical centers, including the University of Chicago, that have implemented customer service strategies successfully and beginning to define quantifiable service standards, the vice presidents explained.

Potential program components include the following:
- Service standards for all personnel. Jobs would be evaluated and rewarded based at least in part on employees' success at delivering good service.
- Pre-employment screening that would help future staff members understand that SHC is an organization requiring high service standards. For example, some institutions have shown prospective employees videos highlighting the organization's culture and how each employee is expected to participate as a team member.
- Changes in employee orientation help employees who work with patients - or support other staff who do - understand and deliver customer friendly service.
- Improved communication with patients and staff.
- Satisfaction measurements and other benchmarks, with a goal of making continual improvement.
- Programs to train staff in patient satisfaction skills.
- Recognition and additional incentives for staff who deliver customer friendly care.
- Management of expectations. Day cited an example of the Disney organization, which posts waiting times for attractions. The times posted are generally longer than the actual wait, which pleasantly surprises customers when they reach their attraction sooner than expected.
- Service recovery programs to take rapid remedial action to help patients whose realistic service needs were not met quickly.