Member (and Patient) Satisfaction - Job #1!
Greetings Fellow Minnesota HFMA Chapter Members -
In the midst of this seemingly fragile economic recovery, I have noticed a heightened interest on the part of many health care and non-healthcare businesses to renew their focus on quality, customer satisfaction, and attention to detail. Quality and customer service can be compelling competitive differentiators and often trump pricing considerations - whether you are in the business of selling health care services or like me, are in the business of selling and delivering professional services.
Your HFMA membership is no different. It's not cheap to belong to HFMA - and you should expect value from your membership that extends beyond the monthly hfm magazine and mere membership in an association. This fall (probably in late October), many of you will be selected to participate in a "Member Satisfaction Survey" from HFMA National. In addition to providing comments on how we can exceed your expectations in the future, you will also be asked to indicate whether you are "Very or Extremely Satisfied", merely "Satisfied", "Dissatisfied" or "Neutral" with your chapter.
Your board members, officers, and committee leaders have worked hard over the past year to provide more low-cost educational offerings through webinar type formats and to provide more opportunities for networking - especially in outstate Minnesota. We also recently held an inaugural CFO forum, our regular series of outstate rural health conferences in partnership with the Minnesota Hospital Association in May, and are currently "touring the state" with monthly golf outings combined with tours of the local host organization's health care facilities.
Our hope is really three-fold:
- That you (or someone from your organization) will have the opportunity to take advantage of many of the new networking and program opportunities when we are in your part of the state,
- That our efforts have not gone unnoticed by you and that when surveyed, you will be able to indicate that you are "Very or Extremely Satisfied" with your chapter, and
- That you will use the survey tool to continue to give us ideas and feedback that will help us continue to develop our programs and activities in a way that adds greater value to your HFMA membership.
I recently came across some client satisfaction survey statistics in my profession that I found to be quite interesting. Of the professional service firms that responded to the survey, nearly 95% collected feedback on client satisfaction. However, less than 50% of the firms surveyed shared the results with their employees, and even less (10%) used the survey insights to develop tactical responses to improve their service. The power of taking the extra measures to use the survey results is compelling. I recently saw a comment from a client we serve who stated quite simply, "You asked. I told you and you did something about it. And I really respect that." I would encourage you to consider whether a renewed focus on client or patient satisfaction could create a competitive advantage for your organization in these challenging economic times.
Please know that in these challenging economic times, we are working hard to provide an extra measure of value for the investment you have made in your HFMA membership. When your HFMA member satisfaction survey arrives this fall, please give us your feedback. Rest assured, we will use your comments to continue our efforts to "do something about it" and make your membership well worth the cost.
Lastly, and consistent with this year's national theme for HFMA, I would encourage to you "Step Up" your involvement to more actively become involved in our association. You ideas, energy and passion are welcome at any time!
Regards,
Jeff