Customer Experience Management Applied to Healthcare- Part 4 The Process

CMS has proposed that 30 percent of a healthcare providers quality incentive payment be based on patient experience. Using the HCAHPS patient satisfaction data as the experience measure, hospitals, associations, satisfaction vendors have generally come out opposed for a variety of reasons, some valid, some just nonsense.

This is where Customer Experience Management (CEM)applied to healthcare comes in. However, and let me be clear about this, CEM is more than just looking at your patient satisfaction scores. Satisfaction data can be important in pointing out areas of needed experience improvement, but it is just one data source.

What you really need to do is talk to your customers.

That's right, talk to your customers with one caveat.

Do not talk to your customers until you have analyzed your satisfaction data. If you haven't analyzed your satisfaction data please see my book How to Use Patient Satisfaction Data to Improve Healthcare Quality. Do not talk to your customers until you have started the experience map process tool that identifies all the touch-points along a continuum where consumers first begin to experience you, then as patients, then as consumers again. Below is an example of a total Patient Experience Map for a hospital.

Along the top of the map are chevrons from the initial touch-point of relationship initiation to ending at loyalty. There can be as many or as few as you want. I would recommend that you be all inclusive and see your customer relationship across the entire spectrum. That is how your customer forms an experience of you. Their encounter with you is not just as an isolated event. It is the sum of all that occurs in their experience process. You will be working on individual service aspects to improve the experience, but you must always remember that changes in one area impact another and vies versa. Nothing is isolated from the whole in CEM. This Experience Map should be adapted for individual product or service lines,

Gaining a detailed understanding of the drivers of your satisfaction experience and connecting them to the organizational touch-points, will yield some initial insights into your customers. Brainstorm organizationally what the data means based on the experience map. Brainstorm what you think about the experience. Develop a detailed list of quantitative information that you need from your customers so that you can begin the customer-centric dialogue to understand their view of the experience.

These insights then need to be validated by your customers.

Market research is required.

If you are not going to listen to your customers about their experiences first-hand, then you are not engaged in CEM. Customers include employees as well. Small focus groups, one-on-one research, web enabled survey, telephone and other methods of research are needed to validate your experience assumptions. Don't be afraid to ask former patients about your current process for whatever service experience you pick. What did they understand? What did they not understand? Where were they confused? What would make it better?

This type of process can yield volumes of results. You can expect to have some of your insights validated. You will also be surprised at insights that you will gain from a customer-centric dialogue, uncovering areas for experience improvement that you never would have thought of or considered. Validation and identification assist in prioritizing what changes you need to make for the "ideal experience". With this type of data, you now are able to prioritize those experience changes that are "nice to have", compared to those experience changes that will make the most impact in experience improvement for rational resource allocation. It takes the guess work out of the equation. Cost benefit analysis is required.

It will take 2-3 months at a cost estimate of $30,000 for the research part for each service.

Now it's about operations.

Data drives decisions and knowing what will improve your customer experience based on your dialogue and validation by your customers, you can now develop those operational service improvement plans to improve the customer experience across the totality of that experience. How you allocate resources and change operationally is left to you within whatever process and or quality improvement system you use.

These steps need to be repeated for each service experience or product-line that you choose to improve.

Customer Experience Management is a way of life, not a one-time organizational change.

If you are interested, I have a small 14 slide PowerPoint presentation overview that summarizes Customer Experience Management Applied to Healthcare in an Adobe file format that I can send to you for educating your organization. Just send an email to me at michael@themichaeljgroup.com

You can continue the conversation with me on:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/krivich0707
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mkrivich


Michael Krivich is a senior healthcare marketing executive and internationally followed healthcare marketing blogger read daily in over 20 countries around the world. A Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives as well as a Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association, he can be reached at michael@themichaeljgroup.com or 815-293-1471 for hiring as your senior marketing executive , for interim assignments in all aspects of healthcare marketing whether it be strategic or tactical market planning, customer experience management, rebuilding and revitalizing your existing marketing operation, integration of sales and marketing teams, media relations or service line revitalizations. Huthwaite SPIN selling trained and a Miller Heiman Strategic Selling alumni, both highly respected and successful international sales training organizations, I can lead your organization though the challenge of integrating sales and marketing.

Read More

Customer Experience Management Applied to Healthcare- Part 3- A Model for Change

Before we go much further, I would like to make a correction in terminology. In an interesting discussion on LinkedIn, a physician pointed out that Experience Management is applicable to physicians as well. I had assumed that individuals understood via earlier posts.

My mistake.

Using the word patient places models and systems in boxes in which we tend to forget, that this is applicable across all customer segments. Going forward I will no longer write about Patient Experience Management, but about Customer Experience Management (CEM) applied to healthcare.  The time has come to see people as they really are, whether they be doctors, insurance companies, individual, donors, patients etc., as individual customers with experiences that we need to understand like never before to improve quality and reduce cost.

To quote Paul Harvey..."Now for the rest of the story".....

Customer Experience Management is understanding your customer and their experiences so thoroughly, that you use that information to improve systems, processes, products, services, prices, employee training and other changes to increase brand loyalty, repurchase and customer evangelization.

Marketing Driven Process

This is not a simple marketing ploy. It is about marketing leadership and driving lasting organizational change. If marketing is not involved in your organization in this, then failure will be your outcome. If your marketing department can't do this, then time has arrived for a new marketing department. CEM is not a one size fit all. This is not the flavor of the day. CEM is about lasting organizational change that requires you to become market-driven and customer-driven.

A CEM organizational model can look like this:

Pretty simple really. Very difficult to carry out.

Start with understanding your customer in far more detail than you have ever done before. It is at this point that you need a formal Voice of the Customer (VoC) program. This model requires that you are in constant contact; monitoring your customers continuously all along the touch-points, utilization and purchase process to alert you to things done well and those still needing improvement. Use the experience analysis to identify key internal systems, processes, products and training to meet your customers experiences and expectations. As you improve, you will see higher quality, efficiency and accuracy. That naturally leads to lower operating costs, lower prices, higher level of satisfaction. You retain your customers and prevent leakage to other healthcare providers. Revenue and market share also improve. Then you start again. It is a never ending cycle.

In this model, as you improve systems, processes, products and services etc, you will have lower operating costs which in turn means that you should be lowering your prices. This is a new concept to healthcare, lowering your prices to your customers. It is possible. It is achievable. I doubt that its ever been done, but like all things there is always a first time.

Because you are focusing on the experiences, needs and expectations of the customer, you become an outward focused organization that changes via a controlled process, product and service improvement model to meet your customers expectations. Doesn't matter if it's a physicians, patient, consumer, insurance company, government, Board member etc. It also does not specify what process improvement tool you use, whether that's Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, TCM,CQI, Lean Production etc. Those systems fit very well into this model. The difference is that it starts and ultimately ends with the consumer.

Your challenge and the most difficult, is to identify and discover what your customers expect of you. That requires an honest internal examination and a willingness to talk to your customers to reality check what you think their experience and expectation is. If you don't reality check against your customers, then don't embark on this journey.  You are not all wise and powerful. Time to stop the healthcare imperialism that occurs today.

Next up on the CEM discussion, getting started.

You can continue the conversation with me on:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/krivich0707
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mkrivich

Michael Krivich is a senior healthcare marketing executive and internationally followed healthcare marketing blogger read daily in over 20 countries around the world. A Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives as well as a Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association, he can be reached at michael@themichaeljgroup.com or 815-293-1471 for hiring as your senior marketing executive , for interim assignments in all aspects of healthcare marketing whether it be strategic or tactical market planning, customer experience management, rebuilding and revitalizing your existing marketing operation, integration of sales and marketing teams, media relations or service line revitalizations. Huthwaite SPIN selling trained and a Miller Heiman Strategic Selling alumni, both highly respected and successful international sales training organizations, I can lead your organization though the challenge of integrating sales and marketing.

Read More

Customer/Patient Experience Management Applied to Healthcare Part 2

There are any number of reasons for beginning the Experience Management movement. Many of my readers have more or less begun some type of Customer Experience Management (CEM) or Patient Experience Management (PEM) process. So this post is really for those who still need some prodding in the hospital and health system segment of the healthcare industry and most specialty pharmacies to a large extent.

Consumer Choice of Provider is Based in Experience

In a McKinsey study published in November 2007, McKinsey Quarterly -A Better Hospital Experience, they found that the majority of 2,000 commercial insurance and Medicare patients surveyed would change hospitals to receive a better experience. It was also shown that only 20% of a patients choice is based on the clinical care experience or reputation, 41% is on the nonclinical experience while the remaining 39% is based on doctors recommendation.

The most surprising finding, was that of the 100 physicians also surveyed, that they are often willing to accommodate their patients' request! Doctors will move patients and honor their request for a better experience.

Now if that doesn't get your attention, nothing will. And that was before the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. With 34 million consumers coming online to be able to afford healthcare services through the purchase of some type of insurance, they will wield considerable market power.

Disappointing at best, few hospitals, health systems or specialty pharmacies understand or act systemically to understand the patient experience and use that to drive quality and efficiency improvements in their organizations. Most don't even know where to start or who to place in charge of the effort.

Looking for Revenue from Customer/Patient Experience? Try the Business Office.

In a HealthLeaders Media article from October 8, 2010, How to Boost Post-Discharge Revenue, Customer Service, improving the customer/patient experience with the business office can realize cash improvements of 20-30%.

Experience and Service Go Hand-In-Hand.

In the Customer Experience Report North America 2010, Forrester Research found a number of interesting facts. Some of the most interesting:

• Of those who decided to stop using an organization - 73% was due to rude staff; 51% due to unknowledgeable staff; 55% due to issues not resolved in a timely manner.
• 79% of customers who had a negative experience told others.
• 59% of consumers recommend a company because of its service.
• 40% purchase from a competitor because of their reputation for great customer service.

Finally, in the 2007 Operationalizing Customer Intelligence in the Contact Center, Business Communications Review:

• Customer retention increased by 15% year-over-year for best-in-class CEM practitioner; by 1% for industry-average CEM practitioner; 0% for laggards.
• Customer satisfaction increased 19% year-over-year for best-in-class CEM practitioners; 6% for industry -average; 3% for laggards.
• Profits increased 8% year-over-year for best-in-class CEM practitioners; increased 6% industry-average; decreased 8% for laggards.


A healthcare provider's ability to deliver an experience that sets it apart in the eyes of its payers, physicians and consumers/patients from its competitors - traditional and non-traditional - serves to increase their spending and loyalty to the brand.

I can go on and on about the importance of Customer/Patient Experience Management, but you get the point. The healthcare industry needs to awaken to the potential of Customer/Patient Experience Management before 2014 arrives. By then it will be too late.

Next up a proposed model of Customer/Patient Experience Management that will drive quality and cost improvement that I have developed.

You can continue the conversation with me on:
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/krivich0707
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mkrivich

Michael Krivich is a senior healthcare marketing executive and internationally followed healthcare marketing blogger read daily in over 20 countries around the world. A Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives as well as a Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association, he can be reached at michael@themichaeljgroup.com or 815-293-1471 for hiring as your senior marketing executive , for interim assignments in all aspects of healthcare marketing whether it be strategic or tactical market planning, customer experience management, rebuilding and revitalizing your existing marketing operation, integration of sales and marketing teams, media relations or service line revitalizations. Huthwaite SPIN selling trained and a Miller Heiman Strategic Selling alumni, both highly respected and successful international sales training organizations , I can lead your organization though the challenge of integrating sales and marketing.

Read More

Customer/Patient Experience Management Applied to Healthcare

Happy New Year everyone. Welcome to 2011 and a new decade!

There is an increasing amount of activity in what healthcare organizations are calling Patient Experience Management (PEM). Patient Experience Management is not a new concept. In reality, it is Customer Experience Management partially applied to healthcare.

Customer Experience Management (CEM) first appeared 13 years ago in an article published by the Harvard Business Review authored by Pine and Gilmore. The concept proposes that by managing the entirety of the customer experience from first contact to purchase or use, that you can move a customer from satisfied to loyal and then from loyal to brand advocate by actively managing the experience. It is based on thoroughly understanding the customer. Essentially end-to-end management of the chain of events that an individual experiences . Since that time CEM has grown and evolved to became an important business requirement.

This is a critically important topic for healthcare. And it's not just about reading an article, thinking you know all about it and start a program. I submit that it is time we begin thinking about individuals not as patients but as customers.

We need to look at CEM not PEM.

The reason for this?

Two-thirds of an individual's interaction with a healthcare provider is as a customer pre and post treatment. Only one-third of their encounter with you is as a patient during treatment.

Let me repeat.......

Two-thirds of an individual's interaction with a healthcare provider is as a customer pre and post treatment. Only one-third of their encounter with you is as a patient during treatment.

A healthcare provider's ability to deliver an experience that sets it apart in the eyes of its payers, physicians and consumers/patients from its competitors - traditional and non-traditional - serves to increase their spending and loyalty to the brand.

CEM actively manages the customer experience in total by understanding the customer's point of view. That is, all touch points internally and externally that a customer comes in contact with which in turn creates the experience. PEM looks at only one aspect of the exchange and interaction. That which occurs internally when a customer is a patient. It does not consider all of a consumer/patient's cross channel exposure, interactions and transactions with the healthcare provider.

CEM requires you to see the "patient" as an individual customer with distinct needs and expectations that is developed across the organization externally and internally. It requires a complete and thorough understanding of all customers, their needs and expectations.

This is just the first in a series on Customer Experience Management. Healthcare namely hospitals and other direct care providers have done the Total Quality Management, Continuous Quality Improvement, Lean Management, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma, Built to Last, In Search of Excellence, etc. All good systems, all good approaches but for one reason or another have come up short in healthcare. We still have the same cost and quality issues when this all started years ago.

Now maybe it's time we started to focus on the customer, their needs and expectations to grow profitably.

In the next posting we will look at some examples in other industries where CEM is being successfully deployed.

You can continue the conversation with me on:

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/krivich0707
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mkrivich

Michael Krivich is a senior healthcare marketing executive and internationally followed healthcare marketing blogger read daily in over 20 countries around the world. A Fellow, American College of Healthcare Executives as well as a Professional Certified Marketer, American Marketing Association, he can be reached at michael@themichaeljgroup.com or 815-293-1471 for hiring as your senior marketing executive , for interim assignments in all aspects of healthcare marketing whether it be strategic or tactical market planning, customer experience management, rebuilding and revitalizing your existing marketing operation, integration of sales and marketing teams, media relations or service line revitalizations. Huthwaite SPIN selling trained and a Miller Heiman Strategic Selling alumni, both highly respected and successful international sales training organizations , I can lead your organization though the challenge of integrating sales and marketing.

Read More