We all like to think that each patient encounter will be a great service experience. But let’s face it; things can and do go wrong.
When my mom was first diagnosed with lung cancer, she had been hospitalized for tests including a biopsy, which collapsed her lung. She needed a CT scan during her inpatient stay and no one noticed her hearing aid or advised her to remove it. Unfortunately, the CT scan severely damaged the hearing aid—rendering it useless.
Kristin Baird (left) is pictured with her mom, who had a bad service experience during a CT scan. |
Having a new cancer diagnosis is not the best time to lose your hearing. For my mom, it was devastating because she wanted more information and had countless questions to be answered which required face-to-face conversations and hearing. It also severely limited my ability to talk to my mom on the phone since she couldn’t hear.
As a former health-care executive and the CEO of Baird Group, a patient-experience consulting firm, I know the importance of spotting issues and recovering quickly, sincerely and effectively. There is an art and science to good service recovery; it requires having both the personal skills and the system in place to make sure no one drops the ball.
In Baird Group’s “A+ Service Recovery Training,” we teach the 4 A’s of service recovery: Anticipate, Acknowledge, Apologize and Amend. In this case, my mom said that the staff felt bad about it and told her we could send a bill for repairs. To me, that was the bare minimum and there were several missed opportunities.
When patients have positive experiences and you build rapport, they become much more forgiving when service missteps occur. All the positive touchpoints add up and can serve as a little “service savings account.” If things go wrong, you’ll need those service points to help turn things around.
I will be talking about this very topic and invite you to participate in an educational webinar hosted by Cassling entitled “7 Customer Service Habits that Boost Patient Satisfaction." Join us on February 23rd at 12 p.m. and find out the seven habits that can help you build a great patient experience.