Managing hospital quality performance in two related areas: patient care and customer service.
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization's new emphasis on continuous quality improvement provides hospitals with an opportunity to enhance both customer service as well as patient care. Both are expected by patients and delivered by providers. Patient care is the core product; customer service augments it by adding value and providing the opportunity for a competitive advantage. This article discusses issues for administrators to consider before including customer service as a component of continuous quality improvement and then presents methods for bringing about change.
College of Health, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.
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Dwore
D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004645:Empathy; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D015285:Hospital-Patient Relations; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007591:Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011590:Psychology, Industrial; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014110:Touch; D014481:United States