Customer Service: The Clinic Level

[Tait, MSN, RN]

We hear a lot about customer service in the hospital/LTC setting here on AllNurses.com, but I wanted to share a story from the perspective of a patient at a clinic.

My husband and I are trying to have children, and so far have not had a lot of luck. A good friend and RN of mine at work (a large metropolitan hospital) recommended an OB-GYN who has years of experience with fertility issue couples. Now I will preface by saying I had a hard time finding the clinic and was a bit flustered from the job when I got there. I was also about five hours before I had to be back for night #2 at work and was in scrubs.

I arrived at the clinic, which is part of several small Santa Fe style business complexes and was instantly a bit lost. There was signage at the road for the clinic but no specific sign next to the doorway to let me know this was the place. After watching another woman, who was obviously pregnant, enter I followed behind her with an embarrassed shrug at my confusion. She proceeded to walk to the counter and fill out a clipboard. I got out my ID and insurance cards and tried not to look helpless as I waited for the other woman to finish with the clipboard. I was "greeted" with an abrupt "Mam do you have an appointment here?" from a curt woman in patterned scrubs from behind the desk. I stated yes and she promptly told me in the same lackluster tone to fill out the clipboard the other woman was currently using. I told her it was my first time there and I wasn't aware of the process, even though I had ascertained that much in my head. She gave me no response and walked away.

I filled out the clipboard and sat down. I was called a few minutes later and dryly told to fill out numerous forms and my ID/insurance card was taken. After about fifteen minutes of texting my husband and checking Facebook on my iPhone I was feeling better and was called to the back.

After this I was "directed" as follows.

"Go to the restroom and collect your urine sample"

"Umm, where is the restroom"

"Around the corner"

"Are there cups in there?"

"Yes. Then bring it back out to the lab window."

Thank goodness there were a few hand painted information signs in the bathroom to tell me what I was to do, however none of them explained clean catch method despite there being several sani cloths in a basket above the toilet.

I walked out and was instantly lost as to where the "lab" window was. As a lot of offices there was a little sitting room outside of the bathroom and then a nurses station down the hall. I walked back up to the woman that had directed me and asked where the "lab" window was. She pointed dully at a little plastic basket on the counter marked "urine samples".

I was next directed to:

"Stand here"

Scale

"Sit here"

Chair next to the counter.

Then with no further instruction or detail she positioned my arm several times on the counter, took a BP (120/72 I was her write but was never informed) and then lancet my finger (which really stung, and I was one of those girls in school who let everyone do their BG tests on if they didn't want to do it on themselves, so I am not a baby when it comes to lancets) and she took some unknown test.

"Take your things and sit around the corner"

And that was the end of out interaction. From there it was a basic trip back to my Dr.'s office, my pap and instructions for my next visit.

As I left however I was greeted with a hand out in the air as some sort of sign to give a random woman at a desk with a headset to hand over my credit card for my deductible. She scheduled my next appointment, handed me an appointment card and the interaction was over.

Now you might be thinking, "ok, so?".

For me this was a case of "a little goes a long way". Let me re-run the interactions with a minimal amount of customer service in mind.

"May I help you?"

"When it is available, please fill out the clipboard and we will call you up" *smile/softer tone*

"Here are the forms you need to fill out, please fill them out completely and if you have any questions please come back up."

"Thank you" (forms given)

"Mrs. Tait, have you been here before? No? Then if you could please use the restroom located around the corner by the waiting room to provide a urine specimen first, we would like to check a quick pregnancy test. There are cups in the bathroom and instructions. When you are finished bring it back to this desk and place it in this basket"

"If you would please place your belongings on the counter and follow me we need to get a height and weight first."

"Now please have a seat on the chair, I need a BP."

"Your BP is 120/72 just as an FYI"

"Thank you, next I need to poke your finger for a sample of blood for a specific blood test." (insert discussion about the blood test, which according to my friend was a hemoglobin test, which I had never encountered.)

"Ok you may have a seat in the waiting room near the restroom and wait to be called for your appointment"

"Thank you"

After the appointment I think you can understand a simple "Thank you" "The total is $30, may I have your credit card please" would have gone miles in completing my visit.

Now I am not trying to be a customer service stickler, but I am attempting to illustrate how a few simple interactions could have turned my visit from painful and alienating to simple, straightforward and expected, and possibly even pleasant.

I believe, even though the trend is changing, that many patients are left out in the cold about the procedures they are undergoing and the results of simple tests. I was very surprised in a setting such as a clinic I wasn't even informed as to what my BP was. A five second informational courtesy. Something so simple it could have been considered subliminal to my comfort factor at this appointment.

I believe this applies in all aspects of care, a little can go a very long way, and benefits not only our patients, but ourselves and our work environments more than we know.

Tait

[Reigen]

Your story sounds very much like my encounter this past weekend. I however was very vocal, I complained to the physician, and was rewarded with I will tell my supervisors from said physician. That didn't reassure me at all. If your office personell states we will call you back, then I'd better get a call back, not left wondering what to do next. I then explained that I felt negelcted and abandoned, and that I was not happy with not being called back. I said this should not have happened, and I would be explaining my position to the CEO. CEO asked what do you want me to do? I thought---How about talking to your employees? Tell them about the necessity of following through? How about some type of discipline or corrective action for your employees? Should have been flippant and said fire them and then you resign. LOL

Opps sorry my rant....

Reigen

[prowlingMA]

Being a CMA in an office, I am saddened that this is the way some are being treated. We try extra hard with our new patient to give them all the information, directions, and attention needed. I will tell the patient everything we are doing and why and show them where everything is.

A first time anywhere is scary, especially a doctors office. I would let the manager of doctor know how unhappy you were with the service, or else it will only stay the same.

[Tait, MSN, RN]

Being a CMA in an office, I am saddened that this is the way some are being treated. We try extra hard with our new patient to give them all the information, directions, and attention needed. I will tell the patient everything we are doing and why and show them where everything is.

A first time anywhere is scary, especially a doctors office. I would let the manager of doctor know how unhappy you were with the service, or else it will only stay the same.

My idea was to give a person a "I'm New!" sticker for their first visit so people would know to give that extra information.

I am considering writing up the clinic on CitySearch, letting my MD know and then scheduling at her other office.

Tait

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

dull people working dull jobs

no excuse, really, but some people cannot be taught

[nurse grace RN, BSN]

Unfortunately people have forgotten how to treat one another. It only takes a few seconds longer to be nice to people.I try to interact with other people in the same way that I would like to be treated.It is frightening enough to go to a new appointment in a strange place without being treated rudely and unprofessionally. If we treated a patient or family member that way in the hospital setting- we would be in the managers' office explaining ourselves.

I certainly hope you receive better treatment on your subsequent visits. I would let the doc and business manager know how you were treated.