There is a drumbeat of change across the land.  Both presidential candidates talk about change, and they are talking about healthcare.   Next to the price of gas and food, it is common to hear people talk about the price of healthcare.  Like Bob Dylan once sang "The Times They Are A Changin'". 

Knowing detailed information about your patient/customer will open up new opportunities.  But just connecting information about your patient/customers is not enough.  You need to have a customer service czar.  So today, I will profile what value this person might add to your organization.

Why Healthcare is Not Ready for Change

  1. Who is My Customer?  Achieving improved knowledge of the customer/patient.
  2. Who Manages My Customer?  Modeling the healthcare business for service excellence.
  3. How Do I Better Understand My Customer?  Overcoming the insight and analysis technology paralysis.
  4. How Can I Better Connect With My Customer?  Connecting people with information.
  5. How Can I Get the Monkey Off My Back?   Overcoming obstacles to deliver stellar health services.

Look at the images below (click the images for links).  Notice anything obvious?

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OK--Here it is.  I picked the top 3 hospitals in the US as rated by US News & World Report (#1 Mayo Clinic, #2 Johns Hopkins, and #3 UCLA Medical Center) and compared them to  Minute Clinic and McDonalds.  What I found was health care organizations want their customers to know exactly what departments are in their hospital.  They want you to know how to get in touch with shipping and receiving, security, and supplies.  McDonalds makes it real easy with one service number and one for their business address of headquarters.  Then then offer common requests as an add on (kind of like the SuperSize concept).   Same with MinuteClinic--one number to rule them all.  They even call it CUSTOMER SERVICE.  Okay, this is the time when it should start sinking in.   Everyone needs to be customer service oriented, but you need to make it easy for customers to get information quickly.  In the Information Economy, decisions are made in seconds.  Make it hard to work with you, customers will go elsewhere.  So we have talked primarily about the patient/customer, but what about the other physicians you are trying to recruit, the pharmacies that call in, the patient's families who need information.  How are their customer needs being met?

In order to manage customer relationships, you will need a customer relationship czar.  In most businesses, this person is in operations and typically has some title with the word customer.  Czar may seem a bit harsh, but in healthcare I can't think of a better word.   Next, they need to have worked in a service industry, typically managing or creating a customer contact center.  This is one place where all inquires from multiple modes of communication come into the organization (Letters, faxes, email, telephone, instant message/chat, etc.).

I know what you are thinking right now---SOUNDS EXPENSIVE!!

Try to look at this in relative terms.   If you are a neighborhood hospital, you might have a contact center of 4 -6 people.  Scale it as appropriate.  Invest in some type of contact center software to track these inquires and interchanges.  Check out what ePartners has built on top of Microsoft CRM.   Pretty interesting huh?   It sure would be nice to be able to:

  • know who your new and repeat patient/customers are
  • track follow up communications
  • measure lifetime value or profit from patient encounters

So once you have appointed your czar and have some sort of process for tracking customer contact and connections, you need to evaluate what is happening in terms of service delivery internally.  Involve the core measures and quality teams.  Have the czar be your torchbearer and create your customer service culture.  Once you know who you customer is and you start managing your relationships with them, the possibilities are endless.

Right now, when I go to Lowe's and look at kitchen cabinets, two days later I receive a card in my mailbox with my name on it.  Companies like Nimbelfish provide marketing engines that can help you connect with your customers.   For example, imagine proactively sending targeted emails to customers who have scheduled services pending with your facility.   Expectant mothers guides, co-marketing coupons with area retailers for formula, diapers, etc.  Nutrition guides for diabetics.  The possibilities are endless.  I certainly know which healthcare providers send me relevant information look to them first when I am shopping for service.  

In order to do some of these things, stay tuned for tomorrow's topic  How Do I Better Understand My Customer?  Overcoming the insight and analysis technology paralysis.   We will explore what it takes to move beyond intuition to understanding your customer and the technologies that can significantly help in this endeavor.