MARKETING HEALTHCARE
Hospitals Must Embrace Technology And Invest In Customer Satisfaction Survey
By Tom Simba
Would You Fly Blind ?
Sometimes you do not know what you do not know . happens when you have not invested in the right solutions because you think you know what your patients expect . Are you sure you have ticked all the boxes , though ? seen in leading hospitals worldwide . That missing voice is key to turning our hospitals from operational led to customer driven .
Take a recent example of a British Airways flight that was supposed to go to Germany but ended up in Scotland . The error occurred due to an incorrectly filled flight plan . The pilot got the plane in the air , meaning that it was airworthy . The traffic controllers gave the green light to proceed . A passenger said he was surprised at seeing mountains instead of the usual German industrial landscape . He had noted they were flying south instead of north but thought the pilot knew better so he kept the concern to himself . The plane landed in the wrong city . British Airways had to issue an apology and get the passengers to their right destination .
Here is the parallel I wish to draw . How many hospitals have heavily invested in the right equipment , the right human resource and the right leadership and have taken off only to follow a wrong flight plan due to the erroneous assumption that they know their customers ? This is what
The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic was the reset button . Those who purposely seek to change will be rewarded greatly and procrastinators will play catch up for a long term . The era of filling in paper questionnaires is gone . The digital age has been thrust forcefully to an industry that traditionally resists change .
Some studies have shown that the consumer behaviour has undergone a radical change in the way they interact with services . They are observing behaviour that they had projected to be common in two to five years ’ time . This is the time for hospitals to really invest in understanding their customers .
The lack of understanding at the C-Suite of the critical role of a patient experience department still baffles me . This is clearly demonstrated by the absence of a director level position in any of our leading hospitals . This contrasts with what is
How many hospitals have heavily invested in the right equipment , the right human resource and the right leadership and have taken off only to follow a wrong flight plan due to the erroneous assumption that they know their customers ? This is what happens when you have not invested in the right solutions because you think you know what your patients expect .
Patient satisfaction survey should be viewed as an investment . Time and money must be dedicated to ensuring the latest technology is availed and the results of the survey are implemented fully . This is the opportunity to focus on the customer and understand what their priorities are and their pain points . This should be a constant agenda item on senior management meetings and at board level .
Why Do Patient Surveys
In the current healthcare arena , majority of complaints are not on what one would expect ; clinical issues . Most complaints are non-clinical related . They tend to be based on what the patient experiences at your facility as they wait to see the doctor . This will range from the waiting times , security checks , staff attitude , accessibility and cleanliness .
Patient satisfaction surveys help a hospital learn if they are meeting their patient expectations or not . Where the survey identifies that they are indeed meeting their patient expectations , then they continue to do that and improve on what they are doing well . Note that this is a vicious cycle , the better you meet your patient expectations , the more they demand of you . On the flip side , the patient satisfaction survey identifies where opportunities lie ; where to refocus your resources .
The time to start is now and the best way
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