2. Customer Feedback Assessment 1
1. SUMMARY OF PROJECT
Nova Specialty Hospitals is a chain of short-stay multi-specialty surgical centers across
India. This center offers more than 700 short-stay surgical procedures, covering specialties
like ENT, General Surgery, Gynaecology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Plastic
& Cosmetic and Urology. There is also an active Out-Patient Department and pharmacy.
The aim of the project was to improve the customer feedback services at the center in
Koramangala, Bangalore. In this report, I have listed my observations on the feedback
process followed by the hospital. I have attempted to suggest ways in which the process
can be made more effective. In addition, I have summarized the feedback from the
customers, where available.
2. PROCESS FOLLOWED
I visited the hospital twice a week over a course of a month, spending 3-4 hours each time.
For the first 2 visits, I observed the process that was being followed for collecting customer
feedback. For the next few visits, I personally took over the process of collecting the
feedback and met with the patients myself. In total, I met approximately 30 patients and
got their feedback. This was collected both using the standard paper based feedback forms
as well as the tablet based system.
3. OBSERVATIONS ON FEEDBACK PROCESS
In general, I observed that the process followed to gain customer feedback was not very
efficient. Most patients were not given a feedback form and of those that were, many left
without filling the form.
For example, this is what I observed over the course of 1 hour during the first day:
Time Patient Activity
15:05 Woman Consultation Feedback form not
given to patient
15:30 Mother & child Visited pharmacy Feedback form not
given to patient
3. Customer Feedback Assessment 2
15:34 Man Visited pharmacy Feedback form not
given to patient
15:35 Man, woman & child Visited pharmacy Feedback form not
given to patient
15:36 Man & woman Consultation Feedback form not
given to patient
15:46 Man, woman & child Consultation Feedback form not
given to patient
15:49 Man Consultation Feedback form not
given to patient
15:54 Man & woman Consultation Walked out without
submitting form
I subsequently started giving out the feedback forms myself to the customers and followed
up with them to ensure that it was filled out. I tracked each patient as they entered and left.
This is what I observed:
Time Patient Form given
before/after
consultation?
Result
12:05 Man, woman &
child
Before Filled out and put in box
12:19 Man After Filled out and returned form
12:27 Man Before Left without filling form
12:29 Man Before Left without filling form
12:43 Man & woman After Filled out and returned form
12:51 2 women & 1 man After Filled out and returned form
13:06 1 woman After Filled out and returned form
13:10 1 woman After Filled out and returned form
13:17 Man & child After Refused form
In general, if the form was given to the patient after completion of consultation, the patient
was more likely to fill out the form. Almost all patients to whom the form was given prior to
consultation left without filling in the form.
Many patients did not have a pen and therefore did not fill out the form. In some cases, the
patients asked the front desk for a pen. However, many patients did not have a pen and
therefore did not bother filling out the form.
4. Customer Feedback Assessment 3
The form itself was structured around the Nova Specialty Surgery concept and the
questions were not entirely suited to a Nova Specialty Hospitals concept. Some patients
found the questions irrelevant.
Most patients did not see the box where the feedback form had to be dropped off after
completion so they had to go through the extra step of asking where to give the form.
Finally, the glue on the feedback form was not effective. Hence the form could not be
sealed. Although this did not necessarily cause any reluctance from the patients to fill out
the form, it made the process somewhat inefficient.
I subsequently, started testing the usage of the tablet-based system. However, the tablet
system was not very user friendly. For example, the keypad took up most of the space and
so only the first question was visible to the patient. The “Next” button was not very obvious
and hence many patients struggled to move onto the next question.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS FORM IMPROVING FEEDBACK PROCESS
I would like to make the following recommendations for how to make the feedback process
more effective:
a. Feedback forms should be submitted after completion of consultation and not before.
Since billing takes place prior to the consultation, the hospital should give the form to
the patient directly after consultation but before the patient is ready to leave the
center. If left to the end, the patient will be in a hurry and therefore reluctant to fill out
the form.
b. Feedback forms should be recreated to reflect the “Nova Specialty Hospitals”
concept. The forms should include feedback for consultation, health check-ups and
other patient interactions not related to surgeries.
c. The glue used for the forms should be changed to one with a stronger adhesive.
d. If the paper form is used, the form should be inserted onto a clip board and provided
to the patient along with a pen. This facilitates ease of writing in the absence of a table.
A set of pens should be kept available at the reception for this purpose.
e. The tablet system should be rewritten to have a step guide with an arrow. There
should only be 1 question per page before the user has to press the arrow to go to the
next page. This will make it much more user-friendly and therefore ensure that the
user fills out the entire form.
5. Customer Feedback Assessment 4
f. A desk should be placed at the exit of the hospital with the tablet inserted into the
desk. This will ensure that the patient fills out the feedback on the tablet on his/her
way out.
5. SUMMARY OF CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
I have summarized below, the feedback from the patients across the various categories:
Outstanding Good Average Poor
Warmth/friendliness of reception staff 20% 80% - -
Courtesy and willingness to assist you 30% 70% - -
Ability to handle all your queries 9% 82% 9% -
Efficiency of billing procedure 22% 67% 11% -
Doctor courtesy and interaction 60% 40% - -
Availability of doctors at the scheduled time 50% 30% 20% -
Ambience and cleanliness 55% 45% - -
Your overall experience 20% 80% - -
Layout & Design 20% 80% - -
It is clear from the above feedback that most patients view the hospital positively and
appreciate the efficiency and courtesy of the staff.
Doctors were complemented highly for their courtesy and interaction. One patient had the
following feedback: “Dr. Anita is exceptional. She is very courteous and patient and makes
the patient feel very comfortable”.
Overall ambience and cleanliness also scored very high although one patient did complain
that the toilets were not very clean and had hair on the floor.
An area of concern however is the Average rating that was given to the efficiency of billing
procedure and the availability of doctors at the scheduled time.
In light of the above, I would like to list out a few areas of potential improvement for the
hospital. These are based on my own observations as well as feedback from the patients.
a. An online scheduling and token system would help the doctors meet the patients on
time. Nova should look at the possibility of adopting a system on the lines of Cloud9
on the Old Airport Road. This would make the process of doctor scheduling more
efficient such that the patients don’t have to wait for large periods of time to see the
doctors.
6. Customer Feedback Assessment 5
b. Nova is currently offering home collection for blood tests for executive health
checkups. However, the patients are not aware of this. A sign should be put up to let
the patients know.
c. Although the facility is exceptionally clean, it would be appropriate to do more
frequent cleaning of the bathrooms.
