Search PubMed⌕ Search
Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 16548396

Customer satisfaction.

Rade B Vukmir
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

PURPOSE: This paper seeks to present an analysis of the literature examining objective information concerning the subject of customer service, as it applies to the current medical practice. Hopefully, this information will be synthesized to generate a cogent approach to correlate customer service with quality. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Articles were obtained by an English language search of MEDLINE from January 1976 to July 2005. This computerized search was supplemented with literature from the author's personal collection of peer-reviewed articles on customer service in a medical setting. This information was presented in a qualitative fashion. FINDINGS: There is a significant lack of objective data correlating customer service objectives, patient satisfaction and quality of care. Patients present predominantly for the convenience of emergency department care. Specifics of satisfaction are directed to the timing, and amount of "caring". Demographic correlates including symptom presentation, practice style, location and physician issues directly impact on satisfaction. It is most helpful to develop a productive plan for the "difficult patient", emphasizing communication and empathy. Profiling of the customer satisfaction experience is best accomplished by examining the specifics of satisfaction, nature of the ED patient, demographic profile, symptom presentation and physician interventions emphasizing communication--especially with the difficult patient. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The current emergency medicine customer service dilemmas are a complex interaction of both patient and physician factors specifically targeting both efficiency and patient satisfaction. Awareness of these issues particular to the emergency patient can help to maximize efficiency, minimize subsequent medicolegal risk and improve patient care if a tailored management plan is formulated.

Explore related subjects

CommunicationDemographyDissent and DisputesEfficiency, OrganizationalEmergency Service, HospitalEmpathyHospital-Patient RelationsHumansPatient SatisfactionPhysician-Patient RelationsProcess Assessment, Health CareQuality Assurance, Health CareJournal ArticleReview

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Rade B Vukmir. 2006. Customer satisfaction.. https://doi.org/10.1108/09526860610642573

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2007

[Consultation. Considerations on the practice of medical consultation].

On the theme of Linus Geisler's nine steps for a successful consultation between doctor and patient, the ability for self-criticism, the ability to be able to listen to oneself and the value of the doctor-patient relationship in the context of medical practice will be discussed. Subsequently, the framework of the consultation, the consulting room atmosphere and the complete setting of the consultation will be dealt with. The importance of active listening and the recognition of all messages, both verbal and from body language, will be particularly emphasized. The capability for empathy is presented as the necessary bridge to recognition of the feelings and inner world of the patient. Because one only sees what one is looking for and only recognizes what one knows, the recognition of typical complaints presented by patients in a consultation represents the "something" which must be specifically elucidated. The problems and symptoms which the patient brings to the doctor are surrounded by a ring of fears and apprehensions. For this reason it is decisive to uncover the accompanying cloud of fears and apprehensions with appropriate questions, to correctly assign the unsettling symptoms of the patient and to be able to correctly interpret them. As illustrated by the language of nature - the translation of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) triplets into amino acids - the translation of biological, psychological and social aspects of the complaints symptomatic into the level of diagnosis and the translation of the referential, social and affective meaning of the expressions used by the patient, into the level of the significance will be discussed. The role of the doctor here is that of a producer of context and a skilled translator. In the management of functional disorders and chronic diseases the construction of a shared reality is important. The therapeutic function of consultations is due to an introduction of metaphors as bridges - bridges to an improved understanding of the body, the self and the world. The role of the physician here is that of a moderator, motivator an accompanying person. Finally, Jaspers levels of good doctoring (natural science or causal level, nursing level, communicative-existential level) are stressed and the importance of a good patient-physician relationship for a patient-centered medicine is underlined.

Communication↗
PubMed2007

Cultural awareness through medical student and refugee patient encounters.

PURPOSE: This paper presents findings from a qualitative investigation of cultural awareness that medical students developed in the context of providing medical care to refugees. Our evaluation question was: What kinds of cultural awareness and communication lessons do medical students derive from clinical encounters with refugee patients? METHODS: Thirty-eight semi-structured interviews were conducted to debrief a sample of 27 medical students. A multidisciplinary research team analyzed the debriefing texts following an interpretive "immersion-crystallization" approach. RESULTS: Three domains in cultural awareness training encompassed 13 key lessons or themes. Students reported enhanced awareness about the use of interpretation services and cross-cultural communication. A second set of lessons reflected awareness of the refugees' cultural background, and a third learning component involved experiences of cultural humility. The refugee plight prompted reflection on the students' own culture, and validated the rationale for empathetic care and patient empowerment. CONCLUSION: As medical school curricula incorporate more cultural diversity training, a patient-based learning approach with selected 'hands-on' experiences will create opportunities for students to increase their cultural sensitivity and competency. This program's experiential model indicates that after refugee medical encounters, these beginning medical students reported greater awareness of communication issues, and sensitivity toward religious values, family patterns, gender roles and ethnomedical treatments. It will be important to test these kinds of preceptor/apprenticeship models of cultural sensitivity training at later stages of medical training; in order to assess long-term effects.

Communication↗