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I don’t often eat fast food, but occasionally the schedule calls for it. In recent years, many drive-thru restaurants have added a second window in an effort to improve customer service. The first one is to pay and the second one is to get your food. On a recent visit, I pulled up to the first window to pay. For whatever reason the car in front of me did not get their food right away. This left the cashier and I the unpleasant task of basking in awkward silence as I waited for my turn to pull ahead. The extra window may have improved on the customer service, but the experience left a ton to be desired. Fast forward three weeks later. Different restaurant. Same thing happens. Only this time with a much different outcome. This time, the person at the pay window, asked me how my day was going and then apologized for the delay. Much DIFFERENT approach. The second place gets it. The same is true for patient care. There are countless examples (like the extra drive thru), where our teams implement ways to reduce wait times, speed up discharges and decrease paperwork. The secret that great health care leaders realize is that before any initiative gets launched, it should also be measured on how it will impact the overall impression of their organization. Too often, the rush to improve satisfaction unintentionally bulldozes patient experience. The key to success is to simply slow down just a bit and look at things from all angles. Bring in an extra set of eyes to bounce new ideas off of before they are implemented. Sometimes solutions are easy to implement and extremely effective.
In the second drive thru example, it was as simple as training the cashier to make small talk any time the line backs up. Success becomes a blend of satisfaction and experience. Your patients and their families will thank you.
