Exploring Customer Service Through Hospital Management Strategies

• Main Author: Leonard, Delores Leonard
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: ScholarWorks 2017
• Subjects: Customer service; Healthcare; Hospital; Managers; Satisfaction; strategies; Health and Medical Administration; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3700; https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4803&context=dissertations

Patient demand for a better quality of healthcare and services has increased as insurance companies have decreased payments to hospitals. The purpose of this qualitative single exploratory case study was to explore hospital managers' strategies to improve customer service. Data were gathered from semistructured interviews with 5 hospital managers who implemented customer service strategies in their hospital systems, hospital policy and procedure documents, and qualitative data from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Hospital Compare website. Expectation-confirmation theory served as the conceptual framework that grounded the study. Data were analyzed using methodological triangulation, and 3 themes emerged: the need to improve interpersonal communication, address issues in the hospital environment, and provide employee training. Engaging in interpersonal communication, maintaining a clean and welcoming hospital environment, and providing employee training can help hospital managers increase customer satisfaction by giving internal and external customers a sense of empowerment and self-worth. The findings from the study, regarding the hospital managers' customer service strategies, could apply with other healthcare managers and leaders working to improve customer service within their organizations. Healthcare professionals and leaders, patients, family members, and the community may benefit from the study by gaining knowledge of the successful strategies hospital managers use to obtain quality service. These strategies promote respect, compassion, and a better quality of life, which are essential to social change in hospitals.