Customer Service Basics for Central Service Departments

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2 Lesson No. CIS 241 (Instrument Continuing Education - ICE) Sponsored by: by Yaffa Raz, RN, BA Central Service Sterilization Manager Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center Haifa, Israel Customer Service Basics for Central Service Departments Learning Objectives 1. Identify the customers of Central Service departments 2. Review what must be in place to deliver effective service 3. Discuss tactics to deliver effective customer service 4. Describe how Central Service customers help to establish service standards 5. List five dimensions that Central Service customers use to evaluate service quality Instrument Continuing Education (ICE) lessons provide members with ongoing education in the complex and ever-changing area of surgical instrument care and handling. These lessons are designed for CIS technicians, but can be of value to any CRCST technician who works with surgical instrumentation. Earn Continuing Education Credits: Online: You can use these lessons as an in-service with your staff, or visit for online grading at a nominal fee. By mail: For written grading of individual lessons, send completed 15-question quiz and $15 to: PEC Business Office, Purdue University, Stewart Center Room 110, 128 Memorial Mall, West Lafayette, IN Scoring: Each 15 question online quiz with a passing score of 70% or higher is worth two points (2 contact hours) toward your CIS re-certification (6 points) or CRCST re-certification (12 points). IAHCSMM provides online grading service for any of the Lesson Plan varieties. Purdue University provides grading services solely for CRCST and CIS lessons. More information: Direct any questions about online grading to IAHCSMM at Questions about written grading are answered by Purdue University at Central SERVICE (CS) personnel provide service to their customers, in addition to products such as case carts, sterilized instrument sets and patient care equipment. Excellent customer service is an important key to each department s success within every healthcare facility. If customer service is weak, CS personnel may create problems, such as delays in procedures that can cause added stress and frustration amongst themselves and their customers. The basics of providing excellent customer service are discussed in this lesson. Who Are Our Customers? CS personnel must use a series of planned and unplanned activities to improve the level of satisfaction their customers receive. The best customer service will provide an experience that meets or, hopefully, even exceeds customers expectations. In contrast, poor customer service can generate complaints, loss of trust and respect, and can harm the facility s patients. Every organization has external and internal customers. External customers are those we usually think about when the term customers is used. The external customers of CS departments include the patients, visitors and vendors. Providing good service involves developing bonds with customers that lead to long-term relationships. Customers benefit because the facility is providing a service that meets their needs. The organization benefits because satisfied patients and visitors will continue to use the facility and will enhance its reputation with the service testimonials provided. Bonds with vendors, such as those who provide loaner instrumentation, can help CS departments improve the customer service they provide. Internal customers are those employed by or affiliated with the healthcare facility. Examples include surgeons and others in operating rooms (ORs), emergency departments, endoscopy suites, labor and delivery units, and others. At the same time, the CS department is a customer of others in the facility, including administrators, human resources personnel, dietary services professionals, and those in the materials management department. All of this interaction and dependency on others expands a more traditional concept of teams from sub-groups within the CS department or everyone within the department. Instead, it should be apparent that everyone associated with the facility is an integral part of it; they are all on the same team. All of the facility s employees are critical in helping the facility achieve success. The effort to do so begins as they respect each other and help one another to accomplish their roles within the organization. january / february 2014 Communiqué

3 Consistently good customer service is not easily achieved or maintained. For example, the proper attitude and allocated time, skills and financial resources are needed to define the required quality standards and to develop the processes necessary to attain them. Requirements for Effective Service CS employees help create and maintain a productive working environment where staff morale is high. They do so by anticipating their customers needs with on-time delivery of products and services that consistently meet quality and quantity standards. Meeting this challenge requires an attitude of wanting to meet the standards and the use of work processes that incorporate principles and requirements of sterile processing science and technology. Service-oriented CS personnel want to improve existing service procedures even if they are not told they must do so. However, the resources required will be available and they will be able to measure their success, in part, against customer service requirements and goals. The value placed on service depends on the nature and character of the healthcare facility (in other words, its culture), the environment in which it functions, and its principles and policy management. These requirements will not be in place unless they are expressed in the facility s vision and mission. As well, employees at all organizational levels must understand and agree with the service emphasis, be trained to consistently deliver products and services meeting standards, and be empowered to make decisions when plans and procedures do not cover the situation being encountered. Effective problem-solving and decision-making requires staff consideration of service alternatives and other factors, such as cost, ease of implementation, and what has been done in the past. Consistently good customer service is not easily achieved or maintained. For example, the proper attitude and allocated time, skills, and financial resources are needed to define the required quality standards and to develop the processes necessary to attain them. As well, the commitment to and investment in training and activities to ensure the availability of supplies, instruments, equipment, and other resources needed to meet standards must occur at the highest levels of the facility s administration. The first step in emphasizing customer service is to focus on customers when decisions are made and problems are resolved. CIS technicians should know that their department is instrumental to patient care and that their customers depend on the productivity, efficiency, and quality of their work. The departmental culture must support ongoing communication with the employees because their ideas can be very helpful in successfully addressing service-related concerns. The measurement of service quality is important to improve it, and this can be accomplished by the study of service-related reports, customer input, use of benchmarking tactics, and other tools. The best service is provided when product-, labor-, and vendor-related concerns are addressed. Note: product concerns include quality, availability, efficiency, and repeatability. Labor concerns include the employees education and training, along with their skills, efficiency, courtesy, and ability to resolve problems and make decisions. Vendor concerns relate to their own levels of quality service, product availability (if applicable), ability to solve problems, and the presence of a shared vision of value in their relationship with the facility. Tactics to Deliver Effective Service Effective communication is at the heart of any process to facilitate customer service, and the value of effective communication cannot be overstated. Information must be shared regularly with all staff members in all departments. For example, facility administrators must ensure that their internal customers have all the resources Communiqué january / february 2014

4 The proper use of two-way communication between departments can help reduce or eliminate the stress caused by emergency situations. It can also ensure that customers have realistic expectations about requested timeframes, which, in turn, can improve the care provided to patients. needed to supply good quality service. This begins when the facility s core values are identified and expressed (excellent customer service must be one of them). Therefore, the facility s vision and mission should also emphasize service. Hopefully, input from all employees is requested as these tools are developed or, at least, as department managers work with staff to develop plans and procedures that represent their fair share of the facility s service emphasis. The responsibilities of the CS department and each of its internal customers must be established and agreed upon. This will provide goals and expectations about what CS and other departmental personnel should expect from one other. Good customer service begins by informing customers about the processes, lead times and other requirements necessary to provide the necessary products and services. For example, if there is a need for quick turnover of surgical instruments for a procedure, surgery staff must communicate that need to CS staff who, in turn, must inform them about the anticipated delivery times and keep them updated about anything that might delay the on-time delivery of the instruments. The proper use of two-way communication between departments can help reduce or eliminate the stress caused by emergency situations. It can also ensure that customers have realistic expectations about requested timeframes, which, in turn, can improve the care provided to patients. Note: it is sometimes necessary to negotiate with service providers. Likewise, it is always important to ensure that they understand priorities and operating requirements. Many healthcare processes are complicated and may not be understood by those who are not in the CS department. Role of CS Customers in Receiving Service Customers may improve the service they receive from CS personnel by clearly explaining what they need. This input will ultimately impact their own level of satisfaction and the value they receive from the CS experience. Customers must understand how their requests are handled, and CS personnel should explain their department s work flow and how it fits into the facility s overall procedures. Periodic customer visits to the CS department, orientation of new CS employees to the OR and other affected departments, and regular meetings and communication with heads of departments and wards are examples of how and when customers can educate CS personnel about their needs. Other examples of how customers can interact with CS personnel to best ensure service and product quality include: Providing information to CS about their specific needs including procedures, sets, instruments, set designs, and other requirements; Communicating with CS employees and reporting errors, problems, special needs, and emergencies; and Storing sets in properly designated areas, protecting the instruments, performing pre-cleaning tasks and accurate instrument counts after procedures, and removing soiled instruments to designated areas. The level of customer participation required to develop and maintain service expectations varies. Sometimes, all that is required is the customer s physical presence (a low level of participation) while, for example, the CS employees demonstrate how basic work processes are performed. In other cases, customers may need to provide information to ensure that a service is correctly delivered (a moderate level of participation). In other situations, such as the mutual planning of each other s roles and responsibilities during emergencies, customers can actually be involved in co-creating the service and facilitating a high level of participation. Evaluating Service Quality The extent of satisfaction we receive from a product or service results from the comparison of what was received in comparison to what was expected. Customer expectations are based on experience, reputation, input from others, desired standards and norms, and the statements january / february 2014 Communiqué

5 and promises of those who will deliver the products and services. As the gap between expectations and perceived service becomes greater, the level of satisfaction decreases. Customers may use five dimensions when they assess service quality: 1 Tangibles. Examples include the appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials. Reliability. This dimension relates to the ability to consistently and accurately deliver the promised service. Responsiveness. This involves the willingness to help customers and provide prompt service. Assurance. This factor involves the employees knowledge and courtesy, and their ability to convey trust and confidence. Empathy. Empathetic employees care for and provide individualized attention to their customers. priority of all healthcare organizations. While the quality of CS products can be described and measured by numerous standards and norms, the quality of service must also be discussed and measured. The CS department should be regularly audited to ensure that production processes are designed properly and that service is provided according to standards and norms. Budgeting and cost control are critical factors for ensuring that quality standards are consistently attained. CS managers and staff members should foster effective relationships with customers and develop a vision of service, along with the strategies and tactics to deliver it. CIS technicians are at the heart of these strategies because they implement the vision. Reference 1. Zeithaml, V., Parasuraman, A., and Berry, L. (1998). A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and its Implications for Future Research. journal of Marketing, Vol. 49. pp For additional information about the evaluation of service quality, see: Carman, James M. (1990); Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality: An Assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 66 No.1. pp Ghobadian A, Speller S, and Jones M. (1994). Service Quality Concepts and Models. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 11, No. 9. pp One common factor that CS customers often use to evaluate the quality of service relates to instrument turnaround time, and others include the effectiveness of cleaning, disinfection and sterilization processes. Meeting goals for service concerns requires the availability of all resources necessary for a properly operating department, and CS employees and their customers must help to ensure these resources are available. For example, it is important to maintain a reasonable amount of instrument sets, equipment and other resources to consistently meet the facility s needs. Shut-downs, errors and product unavailability will yield complaints and, often, these are unavoidable if there are inadequate production resources. In Conclusion Service quality is an important part of CS production and service. Providing quality products and services should be a major CIS Self-Study Lesson Plans Technical Editor Carla McDermott, RN, CRCST Clinical Nurse III South Florida Baptist Hospital Plant City, FL Series Writer/Editor Jack D. Ninemeier, Ph.D. Michigan State University East Lansing, MI IAHCSMM is seeking volunteers to write or contribute information for our CIS Self- Study Lessons. Doing so is a great way to contribute to your own professional development, to your Association, and to your Central Service department peers. Our Team will provide guidelines and help you with the lesson to assure it will be an enjoyable process. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Berrios (elizabeth@iahcsmm.org). Communiqué january / february 2014