Employees empowered to handle patient complaints
Employees empowered to handle patient complaints
Disgruntled customers can receive flowers, candy
Already immersed in a strong customer service culture, Morton Plant Mease Health Care in Dunedin, FL, has taken its philosophy a step further with "On The Spot," a program that empowers its employees, or team members, to handle patient complaints without management intervention.
"On The Spot," or OTS (pronounced Otis), as it's been dubbed, "was created as a way to show customers that we are listening when they address a concern, that we think what they say is important, that it matters, and that their input shows us a way to improve," says Kandy Swanson, manager of patient access services.
The OTS program was devised by Margie Brusseau, director of the medical/surgical nursing team, piloted with the nursing teams in 1996, and introduced in 1997 to the rest of the organization, including employees at the five ambulatory care facilities where Swanson oversees access services, she says.
An OTS is an on-the-spot intervention by an employee who has dealt with a complaint, but feels that - even though management intervention is not called for - the customer is still truly displeased or is leaving upset, she explains.
That intervention involves filling out an order form for one of several items to be sent to the customer. These include a flower basket or fruit basket from a local florist, or one of several kinds of containers filled with candies and other treats from a specialty shop, Swanson adds.
The team member encloses a card with either a personalized note or a standard greeting, which is "Thank you for helping us to see how we can improve our service. We hope you will let us serve you again." The card is signed with the name and facility of the team member placing the order, she says.
When the program was instituted at the ambulatory care facilities, Swanson led a 45-minute in-service for team members, going over a flow chart showing the sequence of events that might lead to an OTS. She explained when it's appropriate to send an OTS and when it's not. The team member uses his or her own judgment to determine if a manager needs to be involved at any point in the process, she notes.
The OTS program builds on Morton Plant's "Can you take the HEAT?" method of dealing with customer complaints. The acronym stands for:
· Hear them out.
· Empathize.
· Apologize.
· Take responsibility for action.
"Prior to OTS, we just used HEAT," Swanson adds. "Now we have another step before management intervention. We needed to give empowerment to team members."
After sending a gift, a team member enters the information on a log sheet, giving his or her name and the reason for the intervention. Once a month, Swanson matches the OTS invoices for ambulatory care to the log sheet and pays them. Administration covers the cost, she notes. "They think it's a worthy cause."
She tracks the number of times an OTS is used, looking for trends. "If we're OTS-ing for the same thing over and over again, that's important," Swanson adds. "We identify the reasons so we can put action plans in place."
"A worst-case scenario would be for team members to listen to a complaint, send an OTS, and then have the patient return and see the same problem occurring again," she points out. "We need to stand by what that card says."
In a month's time, Swanson estimates, ambulatory care, which comprises five outpatient centers, sends about 25 OTSs. "Extreme waiting times are one of the main things we are OTS-ing for at this time," she says.
To address the issue, the facilities are taking a closer look at how procedures are scheduled, and have designed a new card to present to outpatients, Swanson adds.
In addition to giving some background on the facility and explaining how patients can retrieve X-rays or address billing concerns, the card discusses waiting times, she says. "It says that we're making every effort to be on time, but asks them to please understand if extra time is needed for the previous patient."
The card also clarifies why a patient who checks in later might be taken to an exam room first, a source of frequent customer irritation, Swanson notes. "We have 10 rooms for different exams, and if a patient is waiting for a mammogram, not a CAT scan, that room might be available first," she adds.
The OTS program has gotten good response from patients, with few exceptions, Swanson says. "It always amazes me to get a 'thank-you' for a 'thank-you,' but that's what happens. We did get one phone call where the patient said, 'This isn't appropriate.' At that point, management follows up."
Team members, she points out, appreciate the fact that they don't need management approval for the program.
"OTS was created just to show we truly care," Swanson adds. "We can't just talk the talk, we have to walk the walk. It's not just management's responsibility to recover an upset patient."
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