In terms of Hospital Customer Service, where are the stakes the highest? Where emotions run frayed and the potential to emotionally hurt a patient is very likely? The answer is the Emergency Room.
Over the years, we have had countless visits to Emergency Rooms - both via our consulting practice as well as via my 6 year old son, Macauley who has broken his arm twice. What little boy doesn't spend time at the ER?
Macauley has broken his arm twice now. The first time was on a bouncy thing in our living room and while painful, it was manageable for Macauley and ourselves. We went to the ER and were treated. That ER Customer Experience wasn't bad, it wasn't good, it was just an ER visit. It was blah. Average. Normal. Nothing major to note. We came and we left. End of story.
Nice building though. But wait. That's expected. If you don't have a nice building, and a competitor ER down the road does, patients might go there next time.
The second time, Macauley's break was more painful - for him as well as Mom and Dad. I remember three things about that day. I remember the sounds of the thud and the scream of Macualey hitting the ground. I remember praying that his pain would go away and saying to myself, "I wish my arm was broken and not Macauley's." It was emotionally traumatic. And I vividly remember how we were treated by Dr. Gordy.
As luck would have it, our ER Doc was none other than Dr. Gordy. I haven't done this before, but I am tempted to ask Dr. Gordy what he does for a living because he is unlike other ER staff I have seen both personally and professionally. Dr. Gordy touches lives emotionally in ways I think few ER doctors do.
As a scared Dad, I didn't ask Dr. Gordy to show me his credentials. I assumed that because it is a well-respected hospital that his doctor abilities would be nothing less than the best. And they were.
And there lies the problem. Hospitals focus on the technical side of things - the ability to do procedures, to follow protocol. And they should. But there needs to be an emotional element or standard as well in the Hospital Customer Service Experience. And it is missing BIG TIME.
I don't want to say that Hospital and ER staff don't care about people. I know they do. ER staff are under tremendous pressure and are highly educated and trained to overcome life's small and large challenges. They save lives. They make a difference. But all medical organizations make this difference because one may assume (incorrectly) that all medical organizations that are certified are good at what they do.
My concern is that most Hospital Emergency Room Customer Service Experiences are focused solely on the physical or technical issues of the patient. You are probably wondering... "Tell me what you mean..."
Please allow me to share an example of my son's broken arm and the treatment we all received by Dr. Gordy... Remember. We were scared to death. My son was crying. I was crying on the inside. We were worried. Dr. Gordy walks into the room and among his first words, he said something like, "Do you have a punchcard? I think by now you might have a free visit."
I laughed.
Macauley laughed.
My wife laughed.
For a moment, we forgot that Macauley's arm was broken. We were touched. And we became a Dr. Gordy fan.
Dr. Gordy stood out. Why? Because he touched our lives and not just physically but also emotionally. He left us in better condition than he found us and he treated everyone there today, not just my son, Macualey.
Unfortunately, not everyone that day shared Dr. Gordy's philosophy.
I don't mean to sound cynical here. I really don't. But I see it all the time. I see banners suggesting that hospitals really care about patients. I believe they do. Average Hospitals care about the physical needs of the patients. Amazing Hospitals care about the emotional needs as well. Here are just some of the things I have seen over the years in a Hospital ER:
- An amazing experience with a nurse who spends quality time and appears to really care and then a doctor walks in and treats the patient like a piece of meat.
- An amazing experience with a doctor who spends quality time and appears to really care about the patient as a human being and then a professional staff person walks in treating the patient indifferently.
- Over a 20 minute time period, I have seen over 100 Hospital ER team members walk by a patient on a gurney in a hallway exposed to the world and not one of them acknowledged the patient. Several team members walked by repeatedly - all without acknowledging the patient.
- I have seen medical staff laugh and chit chat outside the room of someone who just passed away where friends and family members are grieving and saying their "good byes".
I can't tell you how many wonderful Hospital ERs I have been in. I have been shown blueprints of new medical facilities and I always wonder, "Where's the blueprint of how the patient will be treated?" The problem is most people think that the Medical Customer Service Experience is about nice buildings filled with technically proficient staff.
It's a standard. It's a given. If you aren't technically proficient, you aren't treating patients. So technical proficiency is a given.
If you don't have a nice building and a hospital 3 blocks away does, then you aren't innovative and cutting edge. In other words, you are old. So everyone is putting up nice buildings.
Fact. Nice buildings with technically proficient medical staff are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere. There is no competitive advantage. Either you have the technical staff and the nice surroundings or you don't and you lose if competition nearby does.
The REAL opportunity is through how you treat the Patient. Your Patient Customer Service Experience is what will set you apart from your competition. Why? Simply because most people only pay lip service to Patient Customer Service. It's in marketing brochures and commercials plastered everywhere about how you will be cared about at XYZ Hospital.
The problem. Go to XYZ Hospital and see how many times you are greeted by a staff member as you walk the halls. Chances are, you won't be greeted unless you obviously look like you shouldn't be where you are.
Why create emotionally-engaging Patient Customer Service Experiences? Most importantly, your patients deserve it. During the toughest emotional times of our lives, we as human beings deserve to be treated with respect, love, and empathy. Unfortunately, most medical organizations don't get that. They think it's about the building and technically proficient staff when that's icing on the cake.
What do you do about this problem? It's really quite simple. Cultural change takes time. Do the following four things, and your Patient Customer Service Experience will soar.
- Create a culture of Medical Customer Service Experience Accountability. If you can pass by a patient without acknowledging them, you don't work here anymore.
- Build Hospital Customer Service Touch Points - Create "Moments of Truth" where your team can purposely help your patients feel emotionally better.
- Hire and retain the right people. I see too many Medical Organizations who are quick to hire and slow to fire when people don't live up to Customer Experience expectations.
- Help your medical staff understand why they are really there. To make a difference in the lives of those they touch. If they can't get that, then help them find work with your competition.
Now go Maximize Possibility!
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Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
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The Customer Experience is all about emotion. Whether you work for a professional service firm (PSF), consultancy, or medical customer service what you say matters. Every word combination or phrase either gives to or takes energy from the person to whom you are speaking. Think of it this way. Every Customer Service phrase is either a deposit or withdrawal of your emotional "bank account". Clearly, the objective is to create positive emotions that create the positive emotional branding association you desire. 
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