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Show organizations, hospitals must meet four requirements in managing 'moments of truth.1 First, they must understand and respond to changing customer wants, needs, and expectations. Including patients and their families as active participants in medical care is one response to changing patient expectations. Second, they must "create and communicate a well-defined, customer-inspired, service strategy" (Zemke, 1989). Hospitals must define the purpose and value of the service they offer, and communicate it through mission or vision statements and in every moment of truth. Third, they must develop and maintain customer-friendly systems "designed for the convenience of the customer rather than the convenience of the organization" (Albrecht and Zemke, 1985). Children's hospitals across the country have tailored their institutions for their customers. Children's art and "friendly" colors of carpet and paint decorate the halls. Patient rooms are designed to have more "home-like" atmospheres. Finally, hospitals must "hire, inspire, and develop customer-oriented frontline people" (Zemke, 1989). All the training that can be provided for frontline staff is not enough, however, to make an organization more customer-oriented. The concern for the customer must be a system-wide concern, and frontline employees must be empowered to act upon that concern. Wendy Leebov (1988) tells one story of a hospital admissions clerk who had participated in a customer relations skill-building program. After the program ended, the clerk took every available opportunity to assist patients and to make them more comfortable. One day, the clerk noticed a woman who was shaking and crying. She left her desk to comfort the woman and to ease her fear of being admitted to the hospital. The clerk's supervisor called the clerk into her office and scolded her for leaving her desk. They simply did not have that much time to spend with individual patients. An admissions clerk was supposed to see six people an hour, ten minutes per person. The clerk was trapped between pressures from the hospital's customer relations advocates and pressures from her supervisor to meet their quota, no matter the cost. The idea of customer-oriented service must be ingrained in the purpose and ideology of the organization through a mission or vision statement. It should then be reflected through the behavior of individuals at every level of the organization, from radiology technicians to cardiovascular surgeons, from frontline staff to hospital administrators. Only such a system-wide concern for the customer can transform a traditional healthcare organization into an institution dedicated to those it serves. Customer-Friendly Systems Too often systems are designed based upon organizational needs, forgetting the needs of the customer. Systems should be designed with the customer in mind. "Patients unsure of whether their condition is sufficiently acute to deserve professional attention must be taken seriously [...] Busy customers are attended to promptly. Customers [...] are listened to in an unhurried manner. Inarticulate or embarrassed customers are politely probed until their real concerns surface. Repeat customers are remembered. Adults are treated like adults, using surnames with respect. Privacy is honored and respected. Health information and aftercare instructions are clear and written out. Professional and support staff deal with customers in a friendly and forthright manner. Their attitude demonstrates the first principle of any business relationship: We are here to satisfy customers" (Coile, 1990). Simple things are often overlooked in the quest for customer-friendly systems. There are five frequently overlapping areas to consider in tailoring systems to meet the needs of the customer: reception, Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1993 79 |