Do You
Encourage or Discourage Quality Service? by Susan Keane Baker
One day, my ten year old son Thomas asked
me to drive him to the store to purchase
a folder for a report due at school the
next day. I was busy finishing a project
and replied, "I have to get a workbook
to the FedEx drop-off box by 6:00 p.m. and
the stationery store closes at six, so we’ll
go later." We dropped my package in
the FedEx box at 5:50 p.m. and headed for
the stationery store a few doors away. The
doors were locked. An employee could be
seen inside, steadily ignoring my son’s
knock, perhaps with the slightest trace
of a smirk on his face. "He doesn’t
want our business," my son said. As
there are no office supply superchains in
our town, we decided to drive to another
town to buy the folder. We stopped at home
first to tell my daughter that we would
be out longer than we had planned. A FedEx
truck pulled into the driveway behind us
and the driver got out to ask me a question
about the package I had just dropped off.
"I just want to be sure that we get
it there for you by tomorrow morning"
he said with a smile. Thomas was greatly
impressed that the employee of a huge company
would go out of his way for us while the
employee of a small town company seemed
not to care about our needs at all.
Five years have passed since that night.
The stationery store went out of business
last year. The owner blamed the customers
who went to the superstore in the next town
just to save a few pennies. In reality,
few people patronized the store, even though
it was far more convenient, because the
experience of shopping there was not a welcoming
or friendly one. Meanwhile, Thomas is saving
money from his summer job so that he can
buy some stock – in FedEx.
What messages do you send to patients?
Betsy Nicoletti, a Springfield VT consultant
with Helms & Company, advises physicians
and practice managers on how to build their
practices. In a recent lecture, she mentioned
that some practices have brochures that
scream "Don’t call us." As
I listened to Betsy, I recalled a brochure
I’d seen recently. Some excerpts:
"We close between 1:00 pm and 2:00
pm each day for lunch. Please do not knock
on the door when we are closed. There are
many administrative tasks to be completed
and the staff is busy behind the scenes."
"If you would like to speak to
your doctor on the telephone, please phone
when the doctor is not busy consulting with
patients."
"We will not usually give results
of tests out over the telephone due to concerns
about confidentiality. If your doctor has
specifically asked you to call for a result,
please do so between 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm
when the telephone system is less busy."
"The receptionists will not take
requests for prescription refills over the
telephone because this is potentially dangerous.
It also clogs up the telephone system and
makes it more difficult for patients with
urgent problems to get through. We are very
happy to deal with prescription refills
by mail if you enclose a SASE (stamped and
self addressed envelope.)"
"Please let the receptionists know
of any change of address or telephone number.
It is very wasteful of their time to try
and contact people who have changed either
of these without telling us."
What about your practice?
Do you have a "staff only"
or "back desk" telephone line?
If so, which line is answered first when
both ring at the same time?
Are telephone lines transferred to the
answering service during lunch? If so,
you may be telling waiting patients who
can only call during lunch that you don’t
care all that much about their needs.
Read all of the signs posted in your
practice. Do the majority of them have
to do with billing and insurance? If so,
what message are you sending?
Do patients receive bills for tests
before the test results have even been
communicated to them?
Are patients referred to in a derogatory
manner, even in jest?
The days of Lily Tomlin’s, "We
don’t care. We don’t have to.
We’re the telephone company" are
over for all of us. Don’t confuse lack
of choice with loyalty. Even if you are
the only practice in your community, patients
will go elsewhere if made to feel that their
needs are an interruption in your day, rather
than the reason for your existence.
A receptionist spoke to me after a recent
seminar to tell me a story about something
that had happened in her practice. A woman
who had no connection to the practice entered
the office complaining about the building’s
multi-level parking garage. "My husband
is sick and we have gone from level to level
and we can’t find our car" she
said. The receptionist asked the practice
manager if she would take over the desk
while she went to help the woman locate
the car. A few months later, the woman returned,
this time with gratitude and a box of chocolates.
"We heard the worst news possible that
day, that my husband didn’t have much
longer to live. Before he died, we spoke
about you and how much your kindness meant
to us in our time of need." The receptionist,
in telling me the story, was praising her
practice manager for making it possible
for her to be kind.
Making it possible for her to be kind.
Most people work in health care settings
because they want to help people. Does the
culture of your organization encourage or
discourage them from doing just that?
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