The document provides recommendations for improving the customer experience at an intern project location. It suggests that natural lighting, comfortable furniture, access to water and WiFi can improve the waiting area atmosphere. It also recommends easy online maps access from location pages, digital signage with welcome messages or staff introductions, and tablets with reading material, games, and access to patient records. Text reminders of appointments or wait times would also aid communication. Frontline staff should receive customer service training to improve the patient experience. The website should clearly list services, prices, and accepted insurances to provide transparency. Post-appointment follow ups and instructions should be offered via email as well as print, and patients should be introduced to online access to records.

1. 2016 Intern Project Recommendations
Comfort Technology Customer Service Transparency Resources
We found that natural light,
comfortable furniture, easy
access to water and available
Wi-Fi all created a more
inviting atmosphere.The
availability of these things
can counter the sometimes
unavoidable wait times that
patients may have and help
ensure that they still have a
positive experience.
Easy, online access to Google
Maps from each care site’s
location page should be
available and mobile-friendly.
Digital signage boards in
waiting areas that have a
welcome message, or even
introduce staff, create a
more personal environment.
Devices in the waiting area,
such as tablets, could provide
reading material, games
for children and access to
MyChart.Text message
reminders of appointment
times or urgent care wait
times would allow for better
communication.
It would be beneficial for
associates who serve as a
“first face” for patients to go
through a customer service
training where they could be
made aware of new trends in
healthcare. If they could be
knowledgeable about things,
such as shifting healthcare
costs from employers to
employees and how it’s
forcing the healthcare
industry to be more retail-
minded and customer-
centric, they could be more
conscious about putting the
customer at the center of
everything that they do.
Consumers want
transparency when it comes
to price, value and any other
information that could impact
their decision of whether or
not to make the purchase.
This applies to healthcare
in the form of billing,
insurances and services.The
website should have a clear
menu that lists the services
offered and the prices, as
well as the insurances that
are accepted. In this menu,
there should also be easy
access to personal bills and a
convenient way to pay them.
Billing should be clear as to
what services the consumer
is paying for and when it is
due.We suggest that these
features also be mobile-
friendly.
To save time and money,
post-appointment follow-
up recommendations, care
instructions, receipts, billing
instructions, etc., should be
offered via email, as well as
print. During transaction,
patients should be briefly
educated about MyChart
and all of its capabilities.
Customer service contact
information should be clearly
noted for any follow-up
questions.
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