Satisfied Customers Seldom Sue: A Guide to Exceptional Customer Service in Long-Term Care Carol Marshall, MA
How satisfied are your residents?
One satisfied resident could equal thousands of dollars of income for your facility.
If one resident has a positive and pleasant experience in your care, what could that mean for your business? They ll tell their families and their families will tell their loved ones and friends. Plus, your facility s care is in the spotlight more than ever with the implementation of the five-star rating system.
So isn t it worth a few extra steps to ensure that your residents are happy and well taken care of? The importance of good customer service is often taken for granted. We say we strive for it and that it is important but what actions do we take to ensure it?
Take action and boost your facility s reputation in the community with "Satisfied Customers Seldom Sue: A Guide to Exceptional Customer Service in Long-Term Care, "a new HCPro book and CD-ROM designed to cultivate strong customer service skills in your long-term care nurses, frontline staff, and any other staff member who interacts with residents and families.Satisfied residents and families results in:
- A decreased chance of a lawsuit
- Positive word of mouth marketing which leads to increased revenue
- Improved working relationships with residents, families, staff, and the media
Add a dash of humor to your dayAuthor Carol Marshall, MA, offers a fun, innovative approach to learning that just can t be compared. Her quirky titles and humorous commentary give a fresh and enjoyable approach to customer service in the long-term care environment.Provide five-star customer service, and put your resident s needs first.
"Satisfied Customers Seldom Sue" breaks down the logic behind the newly released five-star rating system. The industry is still reeling from this new, publicized rating of nursing home care. With this essential resource you ll understand the five-star nursing rating system and what it means to you and the public. This timely and trustworthy training manual helps you make sense of it all.
At more than 250 pages, this all in one resource gives you:
- An entire chapter devoted to the five-star nursing home compare process.
- A breakdown of the relationship between interviewing skills and the MDS 3.0 with a strong emphasis of how customer service relates to the new assessment system.
- The ultimate all in one customer service resource that can be used and understood by everyone in the facility from CNAs to the laundry staff.
- Instant access to everything you need to conduct training. Customize PowerPoint presentations, inservices, and templates to meet the unique needs of your organization.
Bonus CD-ROM includedThe companion CD-ROM contains helpful tools and supplements that make training easy. Simply insert the disk for instant access to:
- Easy-to-use PowerPoint presentations to accompany Chapter 4 and Chapter 6. These presentations provide a hands on and interactive approach to learning.
- Eleven ready-to-use inservices that help you save time. It s easy to teach and evaluate your staff in providing good, quality customer service, when you have inservices that cover:
- Service
- Honesty
- Attitude
- Respect
- Business cards
- Appearance
- Putting family first
- Resident needs
- Establishing rapport
- Giving customers what they want
- Interdependency
A 16-page handbook called the Resident and Family Handbook. Simply print and hand out this tool to incoming families. It explains everything from the Medicare and Medicaid admission process to providing an explanation of each staff member s role in the facility. Admitting a loved one into a nursing home is stressful for families. Facilities can provide this handbook to new families and residents as part of a welcome kit to help ease the transition.
Table of Contents: Chapter 1: Why Customer Service is the Key to Success
Introduction
A Brief History of Customer Service
Why is Customer Service Important?
How Customer Service Affects Litigation
How Consumers Measure Quality Healthcare
Three Distinctions of Quality
Reputations Are Earned
How to Demonstrate Quality Customer Service
Pitfalls of the Tour
The Tour
The True Picture
What Do You Need Hon?
Give Customers What They Want
Chapter 2: MDS 3.0 Interviews and Customer Service
Customer Service Impact on the MDS 3.0
Interviewing Skills
Chapter 3: Making the Five-Star Rating on Nursing Home Compare
Every Facility Wants Five Stars
State Inspections
Resident Interviews
The Family Interview
Chapter 4: Families Aren t Brussels Sprouts . . . You Can t Just Scrape Them Off Your Plate
The Impression of the Long-Term Care Industry
New Versus Old
Families and Facility Reputations
Families Are the Frontline Customers
Interdependency: Staff Depends on the Residents and Their Families
Staff Responsibility for Reputation
Ten Strategies for Building Successful Family Partnerships
Seven Signs of Families in Conflict
Initiate Change
Don t Take it Personally
It Is Dangerous to Label Others
Broken Promises
The Broken Promise and the Family
Provide Support and Guidance to Families
Keys to Successful Admissions: Putting Your Best Foot Forward
A Good Idea to Help New Families
Customer Service and the Care Plan
Chapter 5: The Difficult Family
Managing the Difficult Family
How to Approach the Difficult Family
The Difficult Husband
How Staff Can Make A Difference
Chapter 6: Train Staff Members to Provide Top-Notch Customer Service
I Am Here For You
Introducing SHARE To Staff
The SHARE Training Guide
Make SHARE Part of the Culture
Service
Honesty
Attitude
Respect
Ethics
Chapter 7: How to Measure Customer Satisfaction
The Survey Says . . .
The Welcome Complaint
Handling the Complaint
Begin the Investigation
Find the Solution
Chapter 8: Is That the 60 Minutes Van in the Parking Lot
What the News Media Does to Get the Story
Crisis Plan
Communications
Employees
Ten Steps to Managing A Crisis
Appendix A: Resident and Family Handbook"
About the Author: Carol Marshall, MA, is a risk management specialist based in Fort Worth, TX. For the past 18 years, she has trained managers and staff members in long-term care facilities across the country about the benefits of exceptional customer service and risk management. She has offered training programs at numerous state conferences, professional groups, and in individual facilities.
