A Tale of Two Doctors

 Can customer service make or break a sale? You betcha!

We recently found ourselves in need of a “primary care physician” for my husband (he was very sick). Not familiar with the doctors in this area, I asked a good friend for a recommendation. Here is what happened:

Doctor #1: I spent 20 minutes on hold with this doctor’s office before I ever reached a live person. The lady who answered the phone was fairly abrupt and matter-of-fact with me. As we are considered “new patients”, I was told my husband would have to take a 30-minute “new patient” appointment (as opposed to a simple office visit); could he also show up 30 minutes early to do paperwork? At this point, the lady checked the appointment schedule – and informed me the doctor was fully booked for 2 days! She referred me to the local urgent care clinic. I thanked her and hung up.

Doctor #2:I found this doctor’s office online. I spent about 3 minutes on hold before I was connected to a very pleasant lady. She was friendly and sympathetic, acknowledging my husband’s illness right away. She quickly found an appointment for him to come in a few hours later (a regular office visit), with a request that he come 15 minutes early for paperwork. Relieved, my husband saw this doctor.

Takeaways from this story:

-WOM (Word of Mouth) referrals mean nothing if the customer experience is poor. The first doctor was a referral from my friend. I trusted that this would be a good doctor. However, the customer service we had (long wait for phone, surly phone agent, no appointment) discouraged us greatly.

I found out that the person who answered the phone was a call center rep that answered calls for all the clinics in this particular physican’s network. A nurse from the office called me later in the day to chastise me for not taking the “new patient intake” appointment as they are apparently very difficult to come by. When I told her I wasn’t sure I wanted to have a doctor that was this busy, she told me all their doctors were very busy. I told her that was fine, and we would find another doctor!

- You can hear a smile over the phone. Just by listening to the lady from the second doctor, I could actually hear her smile; she sounded glad to be talking to a potential new patient. I felt welcome! This is important for anyone representing your company by phone, including not just customer service but also sales and marketing.

- Make the process convenient for the customer, not for the company. Requiring a very sick patient to take a longer (and harder to come by) appointment because they are new to your office is not the right thing to do for the customer! A follow-up appointment would have been more beneficial and probably would have allowed my husband to be seen sooner.

- Look for the long-term, not just the short-term. A patient-doctor relationship can last for many years, as once someone finds a doctor, they don’t go shopping around for a new one very often. Making it easy for customers to do business with you helps start the relationship in such a way that there is room for trust to build.

Amazing how the customer service experience affected our decision of which doctor to begin seeing as our family doctor! Even before we were customers, the customer service experience mattered.

What does your experience say to your potential customers? Will they come back to you, or will they walk on down the street?

Customers Rock! organizations make each encounter count!

author: Petra Consulting group # via: bligter.com

Update your links! New RSS feed

The main site has a new RSS Feed link: http://lahealthreview.com/feed/feed.rss

If you’ve frequented this new blog before you’ll notice some major changes at the home URL: http://lahealthreview.com. The site has transitioned from a news blog to a news portal with headline links to all the major news stories relating to health care in Louisiana. This blog will continue much more sparingly for editorial purposes only, linked from the main site.

Tell your friends & co-workers!  One site devoted entirely to news for and about Health Care in Louisiana.

LSUS plans to offer Ph.D program

By Ashley Northington The Shreveport Times (excerpt) 

Louisiana State University-Shreveport is aiming at marking its 40-year anniversary by offering a program other area universities have not.

The university is in the primary stages of trying to offer its first doctoral program. The state’s Higher Education Commission has to grant LSUS permission to implement a Ph.D. program in bioinformatics and computational biology.

Since no other institution in northwest Louisiana offers any advanced degree of that level, LSUS Chancellor Vincent Marsala said the university will fill a void in the education and workplace community.

LSUS’ proposed program will be offered in combination with LSU Health Science Center-Shreveport and Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.

“With the combined resources, this is going to be a phenomenal program,” said Paul Sisson, dean and professor of mathematics in the College of Sciences at LSUS. “This is the natural, comprehensive thing for us to do. The region can’t prosper if we don’t provide what it needs.”

Read full article

Uninsured Americans heading to Panama in search of affordable health care

By Doreen Hemlock South Florida Sun-Sentinel (excerpt) 

Americans are traveling abroad for medical care like never before and now looking to Panama as a destination to cure their insurance woes, high prices and delaysfor treatment back home.

This Central American nation touts U.S.-trained doctors, high-tech hospitals and costs far below U.S. rates to attract Americans for services from dental implants to hip replacements. It also promotes its location near U.S. shores.

“In the beginning of medical tourism, Americans went to distant places like Thailand and India. It seems logical the next step would be Latin America — closer to the United States and more similar in culture,” said Panamanian dentist Richard Ford, who studied at Louisiana State University and leads a medical tourism group, Pana-Health.

So far, Panama attracts only hundreds of U.S. patients a year, doctors estimate, but the potential for growth is huge.

With roughly 47 million Americans lacking health insurance, millions more underinsured and U.S. health care costs skyrocketing, many can no longer afford medical care in the United States.

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LSUHC Appoints New Dean

After a national search, Dr. Larry Hollier, Chancellor of LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has appointed Steve Nelson, MD, CM, FCCP as Dean of LSUHSC’s School of Medicine. The appointment is effective immediately. Dr. Hollier was recruited to LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans as Dean of the School of Medicine in January 2004. He was named Chancellor in November 2005 and chose to remain Dean,  not introducing another element of uncertainty while the faculty, staff and students overcame unprecedented challenges to recover from the devastation following Katrina and return to New Orleans.  After the school returned home, Dr. Hollier appointed a committee to conduct a national search for his successor and they found that the best candidate was not only exceptionally qualified, but one of our own.

After graduating with honors from State University of New York at Stony Brook, Dr. Steve Nelson earned his medical degree at McGill University where he was a University Scholar. He completed his residency in Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital as well as a Clinical Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine and a Research Fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine. He also completed a Fellowship in Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Hygiene and Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University.

Excerpt from BayouBuzz.com

Small hospital goes digital

By Richard Pizzi, Healthcare IT News (excerpt) 

Natchez Regional Medical Center, a 179-bed hospital here, will implement a subscription-based electronic health record and forms automation system.

Optio Healthcare, based in Alpharetta, Ga. , will supply the products and services to NRMC.

The contract with Optio includes various subscription-based software modules in addition to Optio’s EHR and forms automation products. NRMC will also be implementing Optio’s document design and distribution, patient-signature capture and OptioFax products.

“The ability for our physicians, health information management and ancillary staff to gain simultaneous access to up-to-date patient data is the most important aspect of our decision to go with Optio,” said Melissa Findley, director of health information management at NRMC. “When it comes to managing medical records, we have several manual, paper-based processes that Optio’s solutions will automate,” she said.

NRMC serves as a referral center for five Mississippi counties and two Louisiana parishes. Owned by Adams County, the hospital serves the healthcare needs of the county’s 94,007 residents.

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Willis-Knighton and United Healthcare reach agreement

The Willis-Knighton Physician Network and UnitedHealthcare are pleased to announce that they have reached a contract agreement that assures UnitedHealthcare members of uninterrupted access to the services of Willis-Knighton physicians.

The Physician Network and UnitedHealthcare regret any anxiety that patients may have experienced during the time when the two organizations were involved in good faith negotiations to arrive at a contract.

The Willis-Knighton Physician Network of more than 250 providers values its relationship with UnitedHealthcare and its customers and looks forward to being able to continue to serve them under the new contract.

Source: Willis-Knighton Helath System

LSU settles with former administrator

By Marsha Shuler, The Advocate (excerpt) 

LSU System general counsel Ray Lamonica said LSU officials and Smithburg decided to settle instead of going to court to fight over contract terms.

Smithburg served as chief executive officer of LSU’s Health Care Services Division until abruptly removed from day-to-day hospital management responsibility June 8. He was assigned to the LSU System central office until his contract ended.

The compensation dispute centered around whether Smithburg’s $384,000-a-year contract ended today after three years or whether he was entitled to a fourth year, Lamonica said.

The deal guarantees Smithburg about half of his annual compensation in severance pay.

Lamonica said LSU has put in place procedures that will stop “that type of ambiguity to exist again” over contract terms.

Smithburg called the settlement “fair and reasonable.”

Smithburg said he is starting a new job on Friday with Phase II Consultants in Austin, Texas. The firm worked for LSU developing business plans for proposed hospitals in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

“For me, the settlement agreement says I didn’t do anything wrong despite their allegations, and they are admitting that,” said Smithburg.

Smithburg’s office spending had been under review and questions arose about his getting cash advances from an unauthorized business credit card. There also had been friction between Smithburg and other LSU administrators.

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Children’s ER opens in NOLA

NEW ORLEANS (Associated Press) – Tulane University Hospital and Clinic has opened an emergency room especially for children at a time when emergency services around the city are still in retreat from Hurricane Katrina.The new pediatric emergency room, complete with pint-size beds and medical equipment, has 10 beds and seven treatment rooms, and doctors say it is designed to put children at ease.

The only other hospital in the region with a dedicated pediatric emergency room is Children’s Hospital, with 37 emergency beds.

VA to build hospital with LSU facility

By Ginger Gibson, The Daily Reveille (excerpt)

After months of speculation, debate and Congressional hearings, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced their preference for the site of a new VA hospital. The VA recommended building the facility in downtown New Orleans, adjacent to the proposed hospital that will replace the LSU Charity Hospital and interim University Hospital.

All of the facilities were heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina and have not reopened.

“The veterans of Louisiana are one step closer to a world-class medical center returning to the Crescent City,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson said in a news release. “By their service, veterans have earned the very best, and VA is ensuring they get it.”

Final approval of the new VA hospital will hinge on an environmental impact assessment that must be completed before all federal building projects. The other proposed site for the VA hospital was in 4.5 miles away from the downtown location in Jefferson Parish near the private-owned Oschner Hospital. An environmental impact study will also be conducted at that location.

New Orleans city officials and LSU System officials advocated building the hospital downtown, touting benefits including economic development and the need for service. The new medical complex will offer not only health care, but it will create facilities to train doctors, surgeons, nurses and other health care professional students at the nearby LSU Health Science Center and Tulane Medical School.

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Health secretary to take LSU post

By Jan Moller, The Times Picayune (excerpt)

Louisiana Health and Hospitals Secretary Fred Cerise has been tapped to fill a newly created job at Louisiana State University overseeing the state’s Charity Hospital System and the public medical schools in New Orleans and Shreveport, LSU announced Monday.

Cerise, 45, has been head of the state Department of Health and Hospitals since 2004, when Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed him to run the largest agency in state government. As LSU’s vice president for Health Care and Medical Education, Cerise will be returning to his professional roots in the state’s unique public hospital system. Before taking over the health department, he spent 13 years as a physician and administrator in the LSU system.

Before the new position was created, LSU’s hospitals division and medical schools were under separate management, an arrangement that sometimes caused internal friction in the management ranks.

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Nurse says ‘Don’t wear scrubs outside the hospital’

Letter to The Advocate by Cynthia Morris

I’m a Canadian registered nurse with 13-plus years rural and urban clinical experience. I strive to work in Louisiana one day.

The health-care statistics are appalling, and it takes a collective effort to reduce the mortality rates in Louisiana.

I’m surprised at the number of health-care workers using their uniforms in public. I was taught differently.

Although it’s practical and cute to wear scrubs to a restaurant or grocery store, the blood-borne bacteria, urine, feces and vomit on a uniform with staphylococcus, streptococcus, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, E. coli and drug-resistant bacteria contribute to ill public health when the public is exposed unnecessarily!

From one professional to others — keep the germs where they belong and wear your uniforms to and from the hospital, or better yet, change at work. It’s the professional and respectful thing to do.

Cynthia Morris
Canadian RN
Baton Rouge