Providing a satisfactory patient experience has emerged as a top strategic priority for many hospitals and health systems under value-based care, as patient satisfaction scores on HCAHPS surveys directly affect reimbursement. What's more, basic consumer practices, such as online reviews of positive or negative care experiences, can influence others' decisions about where to seek care.
Part of providing an excellent patient experience is appropriately dealing with criticism and complaints. Multi-million or billion dollar companies have fully staffed customer service departments for this exact purpose, but that doesn't mean CEOs are exempt from answering to their customers.
In fact, CEOs of some of the world's most famous and successful companies, such as Apple, Dell and Bank of America, routinely take the time to respond to customer complaints, and even implement policy changes to avoid the cause of the complaint from recurring, according to Inc. magazine.
As healthcare organizations continue to seek ways to improve customer service practices, CEOs can take note of some communication best practices from C-suiters in other industries. Here, CEOs responded to customers who emailed them directly with complaints.
1. Steve Jobs, late CEO of Apple. Apple customer Aaron Booker wrote on a Quora discussion thread that after purchasing a 15-inch MacBook Pro and a 22-inch monitor, he was surprised to learn he wasn't eligible for a discount on the company's AppleCare insurance product that he could have received if he'd bought a different but similarly priced computer. Mr. Booker wrote a brief email to Mr. Jobs explaining the issue, to which he received a three-word response: "We'll fix this." The next day, one of Mr. Jobs' assistants called Mr. Booker to explain they had indeed fixed the issue, according to Inc.
2. Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America. Christian Brown wrote on the Quora thread that his credit score dropped 100 points after he forgot to pay his credit card bill for two months. Two days after emailing Mr. Moynihan directly, the CEO's assistant gave Mr. Brown a call, and three days later his credit score was restored, according to Inc.
3. Michael Dell, CEO and founder of Dell. Tami Tritz, a college student, ordered a Dell computer online, but it never arrived, he wrote in the Quora thread. After becoming frustrated with the Dell customer service agents, Mr. Tritz wrote "a relatively curt but not unpleasant email to Michael Dell," he wrote. He then "received an immediate response from the executive team, an expedited refund and $156 to spend on Dell Official Site for our troubles," according to the report.
Read the full article on Inc. for more examples of CEOs' responses to customer complaints.