Perspectives on a Patient-Centered Environment · Perspectives on a Patient-Centered Environment 9 Importance of Behavioral Training Another NRC Picker study recently completed for

Perspectives on a Patient-Centered EnvironmentA White Paper compendium with SodexoFebruary 2010

Dedicated to improvingcustomer service in healthcare

Copyright © 2010 The Beryl Institute

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The Beryl Institute3600 Harwood RoadBedford, Texas 76021 or by email to: [email protected]

The Beryl Institute is the research and educational arm of The Beryl Companies, the leading provider of outsourced customer interaction services in healthcare. The mission of The Beryl Institute is to improve customer service in healthcare.

Through the Institute, Beryl defines best practices around all touch points in the continuum of a consumer’s healthcare experience. Beryl’s vast data resources uniquely position The Beryl Institute to develop and publicize data-based intelligence and benchmarks that can be used to improve customer service.

For more information about Beryl and its educational arm, The Beryl Institute, visit www.theberylinstitute.net.

Sodexo, Inc. is a leading integrated food and facilities management services company in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, with $7.7 billion in annual revenue and 120,000 employees. Sodexo serves more than 10 million customers daily in corporations, health care, long term care and retirement centers, schools, college campuses, government and remote sites. Sodexo, Inc., headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, is a subsidiary of Sodexo Group. Sodexo, Inc. funds the Sodexo Foundation (www.sodexofoundation.org), an independent charitable organization that, since its founding in 1999, has made more than $11 million in grants to fight hunger in America.

For more information about Sodexo visit www.sodexo.com.

Perspectives on a Patient-Centered EnvironmentPatient-centric care ensures that exchanges between providers, departments, and health care settings are respectful, coordinated, and efficient. When care is centered on the patient, opportunities exist to remove unneeded and unwanted services. This sounds like the ideal goal for any hospital, but it’s an elusive one. The cornerstone for creating a patient-centered environment is increasing employee engagement.

During the past decade, Gallup has interviewed more than 1.2 million employees at more than 800 hospitals. These interviews found engaged employees are more likely than others to be committed to a higher standard of care and to creating a superior patient experience.

Engagement is the degree to which employees bring their personal identity and self into their work performance. Engaged employees are emotionally connected to the organization’s mission, vision and purpose. We also know that engagement impacts loyalty and retention. Engaged employees strive for the organization to succeed, and therefore, are more willing to do whatever it takes to meet customer expectations, cementing a strong bond between an organization and its customers.

While the link between employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction has long been clear, what has been less clear is the link between employee engagement and training. Can the attitudes and behaviors that lead to a satisfied and engaged employee really be learned in a classroom? If so, how can management be sure that a specific training program is actually achieving the desired results?

We have published three case studies that illustrate the importance of an engaged patient team, which includes both support services members and the nursing staff. The case studies explore the connection between engaged employees and patient-centric care, the keys to creating an engaged workforce and drivers of employee satisfaction.

We hope you find these case studies enlightening as your organization continues its journey towards a more patient-centered care environment.

Regards,

Paul SpiegelmanExecutive Director, The Beryl Institute

Volume 1, Number 1Improving Nursing SatisfactionSodexo Studies Show How Support Services Can Enhance The Work Environment for Nurses

“Patients are the heart of everything we do”

is the mantra of Sodexo Health Care Services, but the

company is just as intent on making the hospital experience

more satisfying for nurses as well.

“The interaction between patient and nurse is a critical driver

of patient satisfaction,” notes Dick Desrochers, President

of Sodexo’s Hospital Division.

“To really impact the patient experience, we have to do

everything we can to make the nurse’s situation as hassle-

free as possible. It makes the hospital experience better for

everyone involved.”

Perspectives on a Patient-Centered Environment 7

Understanding What Nurses ValueDesrochers and his team have launched a number of initiatives to improve the interaction between nursing and support services, including major research studies conducted by NRC Picker and at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Understanding what really drives nursing satisfaction and retention was a major focus of these studies. So too was understanding:

• How the services Sodexo manages contribute to nursing job satisfaction.

• Which service departments have the greatest impact on the nursing work environment.

• What additional services could Sodexo offer to make an even greater contribution to nurse satisfaction and retention.

“Interviews with nurses in the Chicago area conducted by my MBA team showed that the most critical factor for a support service is timeliness,” says Oleg Urminsky, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. “It is the ability of that service to complete a task in a timely manner so that nurses don’t have to worry about the status or feel that they have to do the job themselves.”

“In this light, patient transport, more than any other support service, appears to have the greatest impact on nursing satisfaction,” notes Urminsky. “When transport works well, it is a great nurse satisfier. But when nurses face long waits for a transporter to arrive, it interferes with their ability to attend to and satisfy the needs of patients.”

“It becomes a real dissatisfier then,” notes Urminsky. “It is no surprise that nurses often move the patient themselves, rationalizing that the added work is worth the savings in time and patient comfort.”

“Hospitals that want to truly improve the patient

experience need to understand the dynamics between

their nurses and support services.”

Joseph W. CarmichaelPresident, NRC Picker

8

Measuring the Impact of Support ServicesUnderstanding the impact of support services on nursing is critical, but being able to measure that impact is even more important. That was the object of a major Sodexo-sponsored study conducted recently at Lowell General Hospital by NRC Picker.

The data gathered in this study will be used by Lowell General and Sodexo to:

• Identify opportunities for improvement within the various support services managed by Sodexo.

• Improve nursing job satisfaction through improvement within support services.

• Improve the patient’s experience of care.

“We now know that there are elements of nursing satisfaction that support services can influence,” says Shelley Kalfas, RD, Sodexo’s Senior Vice President, Food and Nutrition Brand Management. “What we want to do is concentrate on providing excellence in those areas so that our performance can have the greatest impact on nursing satisfaction with the hospital environment.”

Some of the findings of the study are shown in Table I. Sodexo will present the full findings of both the NRC Picker and University of Chicago research to the Illinois Hospital Association later this year.

“This research is a good example of our partnership with Sodexo,” says Amy Hoey, RN, Lowell General’s VP of Patient Care Services and Chief Nursing Officer. “They manage most of our support services here at Lowell. Our support staff is very engaged. They genuinely want to make things better for the nurses and patients.”

TABLE I

Support Services with Greatest Impact at LowellIn Terms of Nurse Satisfaction with the Hospital as a Place to Work

At Your Request® Room Service Dining

Patient Transport

Facilities and Maintenance

Source: NRC Picker


Importance of Behavioral TrainingAnother NRC Picker study recently completed for Sodexo throws additional light on factors that could influence the impact of support services on nursing.

This 14-hospital study showed that support service employees who have gone through Sodexo’s CARES Behavioral Training or Focus On Service Spirit Training have higher employee satisfaction levels and are more engaged in their jobs and their interactions with others.

Table II illustrates the impact of this training at Parrish Medical Center, one of the hospitals involved in the study.

“Our support staff is very engaged. They genuinely want

to make things better for the nurses and patients.”

Amy Hoey, RN VP Patient Care Services & Chief Nursing Officer, Lowell General Hospital

TABLE II

Impact of Sodexo Behavioral TrainingAt Parrish Medical Center

53.3%

78.3%

35.7%

63.8%

Say Good Things About Department

Satisfied with Job

Employees with CARES Training

Employees without CARES Training

10

Bottom Line: A Better Hospital Experience“We believe there is an absolute correlation between a high level of support services and nursing satisfaction and retention,” states George Mikitarian, CEO of Parrish Medical Center. “Our nursing turnover was 26.6% three years ago before we adopted Sodexo’s patient-centered model for support services. This year it will probably be less than 4%. In fact, we have a waiting list for nurses who want to work at Parrish.”

“Our quality of food, cleanliness and hospitality friendliness are rated excellent by almost 90% of our patients,” continues Mikitarian. “That means our nurses don’t have to worry about those things. They are free to concentrate on clinical care.”

“In the future we intend to measure the correlation between nursing satisfaction and support services,” adds Mikitarian, “and use those metrics to help evaluate support service performance.”

“The better we can measure and understand the drivers of nursing satisfaction, the better we can apply that knowledge to our own processes and systems,” sums up Sodexo SVP, Shelley Kalfas. “That will improve the hospital experience for patients, visitors and nurses alike.”

Understanding the Dynamics Between Nursing and Support Services

Joseph W. Carmichael president, nrc picker

Hospitals that want to truly improve the patient experience need to understand the dynamics between their nurses and support services. Intuitively, we all know that support services can impact the nurse’s ability to deliver high-level care. What most of us don’t know is the dimension of that impact and its affect on the nurse’s workplace satisfaction. At Lowell General Hospital we have taken that step by measuring the impact of support services on nursing satisfaction. The study establishes a benchmark for improving the dynamic between caregivers and support services and thus the hospital experience for caregivers and patients alike. We look forward to sharing the results.

“Our nursing turnover was 26.6% three years ago before

we adopted Sodexo’s patient-centered model for support

services. This year it will probably be less than 4%.”

George Mikitarian President and CEO, Parrish Medical Center

Volume 1, Number 2Developing An Engaged Work ForceSodexo Research Shows Impact of Behavioral Training on Employee Satisfaction and Engagement

12

“Too much training is done without measuring whether it works or not. Thanks to this research, we now have a clear way to measure the impact of behavioral training on support staff satisfaction and engagement.”

Debbie Thomas, RD | Human Resources Director, Sodexo Patient Experience

The link between employee satisfaction and patient satisfaction has long been clear. So too has the value of employee engagement. We know that engaged employees are an organization’s most productive and efficient workers. They are emotionally connected to the mission, vision and purpose. They strive for the organization to succeed.

What has been less clear is the link between employee engagement and training. Can the attitudes and behaviors that lead to a satisfied and engaged employee really be learned in a classroom? If so, how can management be sure if a specific training program is actually achieving the desired results?

As a major contract manager of hospital support staff, Sodexo has a keen interest in the answers to these questions. “It’s important for us to understand the drivers of job satisfaction for the employees we manage,” says Debbie Thomas, Human Resources Director for Sodexo’s Patient Experience. “We also need to understand—and measure—the effectiveness of our two major training programs, Focus on Service Spirit Training and CARES Behavioral Training.”

To capture this information, Sodexo recently invited all employees working within Sodexo-managed services at 14 hospitals across the country to participate in a study conducted by NRC Picker. The purpose of this study was to:

• Understand employee’s perceptions of their work environment.

• Understand and measure the impact of Sodexo training programs on employee satisfaction, engagement and ability to provide quality patient-centered service.

Some of the findings from this study are shown in Table I. The table clearly illustrates the impact of Sodexo’s CARES Behavioral Training on employee satisfaction, engagement and perceived ability to deliver top-quality service and engagement. The average score for employees who had completed CARES Training was 13 to 24 points higher than the scores for employees who had not had the training.

TABLE I

Improvement in Job Satisfaction and Engagement Scores After Sodexo CARES Training

Satisfied With Job

Always Able to Provide Top Quality Service

Feel Team Works Well Together Always

Say Good Things About Department

See Self Working in Dept. Year from Now

+13.3 percentage points






Impact on Turnover

Sodexo expects to see similar gains in employee retention rates, and this appears to be happening based on early evidence from one of the first adopters of Sodexo behavioral training programs, Nebraska Medical Center.

“Since we began CARES Training, our employee turnover in environmental services has gone down 4.5 percentage points,” says Marty Prettyman, Sodexo District Manager of Healthcare Services at Nebraska Medical Center. “In food service, our employee turnover has dropped by over 11%.”

Drivers of SatisfactionA major result of this research was the identification of eight elements of the work environment that most strongly correlate with job satisfaction for frontline service employees. Sodexo has termed these elements the PE8 (for Patient Experience 8).

The percentage of employees in a hospital department that respond positively to each of these questions provides an “x-ray” of employee satisfaction within that department.

Figure 1 visually depicts the relative importance of each item in the PE8 in terms of how strongly it correlates with employee satisfaction. “Positive/Fun Place to Work” and “Department Values Individual Differences” are the two biggest drivers. The other items correlate in descending order according to their numerical designation.

FIGuRE 1

The PE8: Critical Drivers Of Workplace Satisfaction

EmPloyEE SatiSfaCtion

Positive / fun Place to Work

Department Valuesindividual Differences

opportunities tolearn / Grow

Explanation of mission / Goals

SafeEnvironment

Communication with Direct Supervisor Sodexo Promise

Well Explained

manager Providestop Quality Service

1 3 5 7

2 4 6 8

1. is it a positive/fun place to work?

2. Does the department value individual differences?

3. are there opportunities to learn and grow?

4. Does the department explain its mission and goals?

5. is there good communication with the direct supervisor?

6. is it a safe environment in which to work?

7. How well has Sodexo’s promise “Patients are the heart of everything we do” been explained?

8. Does the manager provide top quality service?

PE8 (Patient Experience 8)

“Knowing a department’s score on each of the PE8 is important because these items correlate with delivering a high level of patient-centered service.”

Dudley Abbe | VP Sodexo Patient Experience

14

While positive scores for the PE8 in this study varied from hospital to hospital, the overall averages for the 14 facilities provide a valuable benchmark by which individual hospitals can gauge their training progress and assess where they need to concentrate their efforts.

For example, a hospital department that finds itself more than 10 points below the All-Sodexo average—the benchmark for any PE 8 item, is required to put together an action plan for redressing that deficiency.

“Knowing a department’s score on each of the PE 8 is important because these items correlate with delivering a high level of patient-centered service,” notes Dudley Abbe, Vice President for Sodexo’s Patient Experience. “Our goal in all of this is to train and motivate our employees to focus on improving the hospital experience for everyone—patients, visitors, clinical and non-clinical staff and the support service employees themselves.”

“Too much training is done without measuring whether it works or not,” says Debbie Thomas, RD, Sodexo’s Human Resources Director for the Patient Experience. “Thanks to this research we now have a clear way to measure the impact of behavioral training on support staff satisfaction and engagement.”

Sodexo’s Training ProgramsSodexo Health Care offers two training programs for employees it manages:

• Focus on Service Spirit Training—a foundational customer service training program that precedes CARES Training.

• CARES Behavioral Training—a training program specifically designed to reinforce critical behaviors for healthcare service workers—Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Enthusiasm and Service—behaviors that, when followed, improve the hospital experience for patients, visitors and clinical staff alike.

“What makes these programs work so well is that the training is delivered by the department manager, not by some outside training professional,” says Debbie Thomas, Sodexo’s HR Director for the Patient Experience. “Employees get to see their manager walk the talk. It makes a big difference in how they view their job.”

“Service employees may not initially recognize how close they are to affecting the entire hospital,” adds Thomas. “With this training, we show them their job is really important to how people feel about the hospital experience. They come to understand that what they do directly affects patients’ perceptions of the hospital—and whether those patients recommend the hospital to others or not.”

A Novel Research Approach

In the past, surveying hospital support staff has proved to be very challenging. Most of these employees do not have access to a computer as part of their daily routine, making web-based surveys difficult to administer. During “proctored” paper-and-pencil surveys, these employees often feel uncomfortable and lose the feeling of anonymity. There can also be language and literacy issues with a written survey. As a result, response rates can suffer.

For this study NRC Picker and Sodexo used a novel approach to gathering the data. Potential respondents were given an 800 number to call with a unique pass code for access. Respondents had 30 days to call the number and complete the survey using a touchtone telephone and an Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) system. The survey was offered in both English and Spanish.

Over 2,000 employees from across the country were invited to participate in the survey. Remarkably, 49.7% completed the survey, a high response rate for support service personnel. “Since we began CARES Training, our employee turnover in environmental

services has gone down 4.5 percentage points. In food service, our employee turnover has dropped by over 11%.”

Marty Prettyman | Sodexo District Manager, Healthcare Services, Nebraska Medical Center

Volume 1, Number 3Putting Patients FirstHow Parrish Medical Center is reaping the rewards of its patient-centered focus in higher HCAHPS scores and market share.

16

77%

73%

66%

70%

67%

62%

65%

60%

52%

70%

68%

60%

81%

79%

73%

Nurse always communicated well

Doctor always communicated well

Room and bathroom were always clean

Always received help quickly from hospital staff

Pain was always well controlled

PARRISH MEDICAL CENTER

AVERAGE FOR ALL REPORTING HOSPITALS IN U.S.

AVERAGE FOR ALL REPORTING HOSPITALS IN NORTHERN FLORIDA

TABLE I

HCAHPS Scores For Patient ExperienceBased on overnight hospital stays from 10/06 – 6/07

68%

63%

56%

73%

67%

61%




Gave overall hospital rating of 9 or 10

Would definitely recommend hospital to friends & family

TABLE II

HCAHPS Scores For Hospital OverallBased on overnight hospital stays from 10/06 – 6/07

44.0%

18.0%

13.0%

7.5%

49.2%

19.0%

14.0%

9.0%

40.7%

20.5%

11.0%

6.5%

39.5

19.8%

13.0%

9.0%

TABLE III

Preferred Hospital

Best nurses Best accommodations / amenities Most personalized care Best reputation

Source: NRC Healthcare Market Guide, 2007/2008


HOSPITAL A

HOSPITAL B

HOSPITAL C

77%

73%

66%

70%

67%

62%

65%

60%

52%

70%

68%

60%

81%

79%

73%









TABLE I


68%

63%

56%

73%

67%

61%






TABLE II


44.0%

18.0%

13.0%

7.5%

49.2%

19.0%

14.0%

9.0%

40.7%

20.5%

11.0%

6.5%

39.5

19.8%

13.0%

9.0%

TABLE III

Preferred Hospital




HOSPITAL A

HOSPITAL B

HOSPITAL C

“Focus on the patient first” is the motto of Parrish Medical Center, and the organization’s ability to deliver on that promise has made this 210-bed community hospital in Titusville, Florida the envy of every other hospital in the state.

This ability was underscored once again in March 2008 when the government released the first round of HCAHPS patient satisfaction scores. For some, the results have proved eye opening. But for Parrish Medical Center, the results have been an affirmation of its patient-centered culture and its commitment to deliver the highest quality care and hospital experience possible.

Tables I and II compare Parrish’s HCAHPS scores with the average for all reporting hospitals in the northern half of Florida, as well as all reporting hospitals in the U.S. The numbers speak for themselves. What is not so obvious is how Parrish was able to achieve these scores so early in the HCAHPS program.

“Sodexo helped us get the jump on HCAHPS. It made us an even more patient-focused team.”

Chris McAlpine | SVP Professional Services, Parrish Medical Center


The Key To Parrish’s SuccessParrish Medical Center was one of the first pilot accounts for Sodexo’s “Patient Experience” initiative. As such, Parrish has been a test bed for Sodexo’s patient-centered model for delivering support services.

Besides managing most of the standard support services at Parrish—food, housekeeping, engineering, patient transport and clinical equipment maintenance—Sodexo has implemented a number of other hospitality amenities and services at Parrish. One of these special amenities, introduced in the Fall of 2006, was a bedside interactive television system from Skylight, Sodexo’s partner for this technology.

“We looked at this system and thought, we can use this technology to do more than deliver entertainment to our patients,” remembers Chris McAlpine, SVP, Professional Services at Parrish. “We can use it as a patient feedback system. People will be able to tell us what they think of their care in real time.”

“So we put the HCAHPS questions on the system—a year before the survey went national,” continues McAlpine, “and every time a patient scored us less than ALWAYS on a question, a beeper would go off in the unit. It didn’t take that long for people to get the message.”

“Sodexo helped us get the jump on HCAHPS,” says McAlpine. “It made us an even more patient-focused team. Now, when the beeper goes off, it’s to announce that someone has just given us a great score. It’s about recognition and reward now.”

Role of Support Services“I believe there is a definite correlation between our HCAHPS scores and the performance of our support services,” says George Mikitarian, President and CEO of Parrish Medical Center. “A patient’s perception of care is shaped by three things—compassion, communication and coordination—and support staff have a lot to do with shaping those perceptions.”

“It’s not just nurses and doctors who are involved,” adds Mikitarian. “Everybody plays a role. In fact, some patients are more comfortable confiding in a housekeeper or dietary person than a nurse. Our support people are another set of eyes and ears.” Sodexo manages most of the support services at Parrish. “People ask me, is it worth having all of those services under one umbrella?” notes Mikitarian.

“I tell them, if you want higher HCAHPS scores, if you want to increase your market share and reimbursement from CMS, then you bet, it’s worth it. It makes perfect sense.”

Mikitarian speaks highly of Sodexo’s behavioral training programs. “When you have support people who believe in our culture—and then who go through Sodexo CARES Training, you really have something!” says Mikitarian, “You have people who truly put patients first.”

“I believe there is a definite correlation between our HCAHPS scores and the performance of our support services.”

George Mikitaria | President and CEO, Parrish Medical Center

18

77%

73%

66%

81%

70%65%

70%

67%

62%

60%

52%

68%

60%

79%

73%

68%

63%

56%

73%

67%

61%









TABLE I







TABLE II


44.0%

18.0%

13.0%

7.5%

49.2%

19.0%

14.0%

9.0%

40.7%

20.5%

11.0%

6.5%

39.5

19.8%

13.0%

9.0%

TABLE III

Preferred Hospital




HOSPITAL A

HOSPITAL B

HOSPITAL C

Great Care, Great ShareParrish’s focus on “the patient first” involves more than great amenities. The hospital has the best response time for cardiac intervention in the state of Florida—52 minutes, which is well below the national average Parrish also ranks seventh in the country for The Joint Commission accredited disease-specific clinical programs.

The hospital just received accreditation for three more of these programs, bringing its total to seven, a remarkable achievement considering that most hospitals do not have a single one.

All this has led to a strong market presence in Central Florida. In terms of share of market, Parrish has an 87% share in its primary market and a 66% share overall (primary plus secondary market)—compared to its nearest competitor at 14%.

Table III presents the current data for hospital preference in Parrish’s market. The hospital is at least 20 percentage points ahead of its nearest rival on all four measures.

“We want to be the best at everything we do,” says Mikitarian. “It’s what drives our culture. That’s why we like Sodexo as a partner. They want to be the best as well.”

“Sodexo process maps its services to identify areas where they can improve,” adds Mikitarian. “They don’t rest on their laurels. They are always seeking new ways to put patients first.”

June 2009 Customer Experience: A Generational PerspectiveMichael Howe, former CEO of MinuteClinic, is an expert on retail healthcare. In this exciting new paper, Customer Experience: A Generational Perspective, he explores the social influences and characteristics of the four generations currently having the greatest impact on the healthcare system: Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen Xer’s, and Millennials. Howe discusses the challenges for healthcare providers in managing care for each generation. The paper includes a case study on MinuteClinic and concludes with customer service tips to improve the generational healthcare experience.

March 2009 Character Counts: Integrating Civility into the Healthcare CultureAward-winning publisher and author Chuck Lauer explores the need for hospitals to incorporate a “civility initiative” into their customer service programs. Lauer addresses the prevailing climate of rude behavior in society at-large and offers solutions to healthcare providers seeking to provide consumers with outstanding healthcare experiences, including five secrets for bringing civility to healthcare.

October 2008Balancing Consumer and Physician Influence: Finding the “Sweet Spot” in Healthcare MarketingThis paper is authored by Al Swinney, senior vice president of marketing communications for Meridian Health. The paper explores the history of marketing to consumers, the relationship between physicians and hospitals, the physician as the patient influencer, and physician-to-physician marketing programs. Swinney explains how physician-to-physician marketing programs work and the immediate impact they can have on hospital volume.

July 2008Mystery Shopping the Patient ExperienceThis paper, written by Kristin Baird, Baird Consulting and a senior faculty member of The Beryl Institute, outlines how mystery shopping goes beyond satisfaction surveys to discover why patients leave before they ever engage a health care provider. This paper explores the value of mystery shopping, how the shopping is done, and how healthcare organizations can turn the results into actionable improvement opportunities.

November 2007 High Performing Organizations: Culture as a Bottom-Line IssueThis paper, written by adjunct faculty members Britt Berrett, CEO of Medical City, and Jason Wolf, Director of Organization Development for the Eastern Group of HCA, outlines the results of a ground-breaking study. It discusses “Seven Truths” about high performing organizations in case study format and provides actionable tips for hospital executives.

August 2007 Moments of Truth: Hospital Switchboards a Bottom-Line IssueSwitchboard operators and other hospital-based call centers are the front-line of the customer acquisition process. Individual healthcare organizations are losing significant dollars by providing poor customer service at this initial touch point. Savvy healthcare leaders will close this “service gap” and transform their switchboards into customer focused and outcomes oriented front-line acquisition centers.

May 2007It’s Not Just a Call, It’s a CustomerConsumers are becoming more selective in making healthcare decisions and they are demanding convenience and accessibility from service providers. Data reveals that, contrary to popular belief, consumers are not willing to give providers a second chance if they are unable to make contact on the first try. This paper explores reasons why callers hang up before completing the call, the impact of lost revenue as a result of those abandoned attempts, and ways to decrease the number of callers who cannot get through.

March 2007Ready or Not, Customer Service is Coming to HealthcareConsumers are gaining more control of healthcare spending. This will lead to a new culture where cost, quality and service are all part of the value equation. With pricing transparency and quality reporting standards, the true differentiator in the future will be service. Savvy healthcare leaders will transform their institutions to be consumer rather than patient focused, leading to new standards in care and service delivery.

Also from The Beryl Institute

Through its award-winning healthcare call center and corporate culture, Beryl helps clients build lasting consumer relationships. Beryl’s greatest value as a healthcare call center is to deliver each client’s brand in a high-touch and personal way. Visit us on the web at www.beryl.net.

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Perspectives on a Patient-Centered Environment · Perspectives on a Patient-Centered Environment 9 Importance of Behavioral Training Another NRC Picker study recently completed for