2. An executive summary that explains your approach and findings (.docx
- 1. 2. An executive summary that explains your approach and findings (Rachael) 3. Description of the existing services Lifelabs is a medical testings company that provides patients and healthcare providers in communities across British Columbia and Ontario access to laboratory testing services. These services include: · All sorts of blood tests currently found on a standard doctor's requisition form. · Monitoring cardiac patients who currently have artificial hearts. · Jointstat (is a blood test used to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis)
- 2. · Prenatal genetic screening for people wanting to start a family that reveal carrier status for up to 102 conditions. · NIPT (non invasive prenatal testing) · In the field of chemistry, Pathology services by using the bodily fluids such as urine or blood or human tissue to give diagnosis of diseases from laboratory testing. · Collection & transportation support; for all patients · Patients results online is a system to give customers results online after any tests is completed. · Point of Care Testing is a medical diagnostic test performed outside of clinical laboratory in close proximity to where the patient is receiving care. POCT is typically performed by non- laboratory personnel and the results are used for clinical decision making. 4. RESEARCH SUMMARY a. Gap Analysis In analyzing the Service Gaps for LifeLabs, we discovered that the Gap that requires the most attention is the Communications Gap. For clarification,we will be focusing on the side of the business that deals directly with the public, and not the side that deals with healthcare professionals. The Listening Gap and Service Performance Gap could also use some attention, however. Listening Gap (Rachael) The survey that Lifelabs use to research customer service expectations is adequate enough to meet a high standard of customer services. They use a feedback method to compare their current standards to what the customers think of it, to see what the customers expect. The point of this research is to see how they can improve their services to the expectations of the
- 3. customers and to see where they lacking in service. Interaction between customers and employees such as nurses is essential to the organization but there isn’t much interaction between the management team and customers since managers are not at the front lines. The only way they interact is through complaints, concerns, or research such as surveys. However, contact people, which might include 3rd party market researchers tell management what customers expect through their consultation. This organization is a company that values the well being of customers. Therefore, this organization really tries to have a relationship with the customers rather than treat them as transactions. That being said, most of the revenues come from health insurance not from the customer, which allows the organization to not see the customer as a transaction. Lifelabs are very good communicators so if there is a service failure, they will try to fix it right away. For example, if they are behind schedule and you need to wait a while, they will let you go somewhere and contact you when it is your turn. They try their best to accommodate the customer and make the customer’s experience with Lifelabs the most convenient as possible. Service Design and Standards Gap (Douglas) Lifelabs has some poor service designs which include Lifelabs has a new service development in process, where all employees have to learn in the next few months. The goal is to provide care for all of their customers, when they are sent home to recover from any tests. Furthermore enhancing customer care from the beginning of collecting information from the patient to reveal the results of the tests.There is an absence of customer driven standards for LIfelabs first of all, there could be a lack of customer service when customers have to wait a long period of time to see a doctor or specialist at Lifelabs. Absence of formal process for setting service quality goals in the company Lifelabs can cause future concern for all current and future
- 4. employees. In terms of inappropriate physical evidence and servicescape, Lifelabs needs to develop tangibles in line with their customer driven service standards.Lifelabs buildings may not be maintained up to standard because of not enough workers. The Lifelabs employees dress code is professional and what Lifelabs customers except when they enter all Lifelabs buildings. Service Performance Gap (Raluca) The Service Performance Gap stems from the customer having expectations that they will be able to walk into the lab, and be done with their tests fairly quickly. Only so many appointments can be made per day, and the appointments are only made online which limits the accessibility of many elderly people, who represent a large portion of the customer base. With such a large number of staff operating across multiple provinces and in some remote areas, it can be difficult to control the quality of service. In terms of Service Design and Standards, LifeLabs does a fairly good job of keeping this gap small. The physical labs appear as standard medical offices, without any frills or decoration. The new service offering of making appointments was well communicated to the customers. Communication Gap (Margaux) The public facing side of the company focuses on a fairly transactional service and does not focus on relationships. The customers also view this type of service as a transaction, when you go to have tests done for your doctor, and leave. One of the bigger issues that the company faces is wait times when customers are coming in for their tests and unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about the volume of people at a given time of day. LifeLabs did respond to some of their customer complaints several years ago, when they implemented an appointment policy to save people from wasting too much
- 5. time in the waiting room. The Communications Gap is, as previously mentioned, where LifeLabs has the greatest room for improvement. There is also a large variance in the communication coming from employees at various locations, based on the lab technician’s mood that day or their manner with the customers. b. Research Method (Rachael) a. Observation Method The observation method that can be used, is for someone to visit a few clinics (for bias reasons) and observe the process that is happening in the clinic. The observer would have a set criteria they need to observe and mark based on the observation. For example, a criteria would be how long the turnover rate is for each customer, or how friendly the staff is. Then they would tally up the marks and get an overall result. b. Personal Interviews This would consist of interviewing select people from a diverse amount of people that would represent a good sample of the population. Then the interviewer would ask a set of questions that were pre-made to see the customer’s view of the organization and their processes. For example, they can ask how they feel about the line-up, how they made the appointment, etc. 5.. Goals and Objectives: a. Service Innovation (significant improvement or new service innovation)
- 6. The new service innovation at LifeLabs would be the ability to call the lab and have them book an appointment for you, for whatever you need. Currently one can only do it online, or you can drop in, but wait times for drop in patients are extremely long. Elderly people or people without internet access can’t book online, and they do not have the ability of calling into a call center. They will after our process is implemented and that will result in less wait times for drop in patients, as more patients will have appointments. i. Develop a Service Blueprint (everyone) ii. Define Service Standards (Douglas) All customers are all given equal treatment and tests, occurring to hospital and medical office standards. Lifelabs has laboratory testing and management for hospitals and a broad range of community laboratory tests.Lifelabs professional health services for employers, insurers and government agencies.Lifelabs national access to highly specialized clinical tests. iii. Describe Physical Evidence and Servicescape Requirements (Margaux) The facilities that Lifelabs uses for their medical testing is very clinical and basic. Their service is not luxury and they do not present themselves above the basics of their service. The exterior of the labs has a simple sign directing patients to the lab. The labs sometimes have storefronts or stand alone buildings, and sometimes they are on in medical or office buildings. The front desk has signs that asks guests to be prepared with their Care Card and lab requisition to minimize wait times. The waiting rooms have plenty of chairs for patients
- 7. while they wait, as well as reading materials such as pamphlets and brochures on their services and medical information. There is hand sanitizer available. There are testing rooms for more complicated procedures and booths for taking blood samples. The employees wear scrubs to maintain uniform as well as sanitation. The online servicescape is easy to navigate from any platform, mobile, or desktop. Patients have the ability to make appointments quickly and easily by logging in and choosing a facility and appointment time. There is also clear contact information for those patients that would prefer to call and make an appointment over the phone. iv. Describe Necessary Employee Roles and Human Resource Strategies (Raluca) Life Labs created a culture where an employee's opinion is taken into consideration. They have employee of the month programs as a way to provide recognition for exceptional service. Management is also aware that they need to carefully consider how these values appear at each location. All the employees at any given time are to be serving customers. Starting with the employees behind the counter taking MSP numbers and dealing with appointment schedules, to employees that are doing the service, to management dealing with paperwork. Employees roles also include greeting and requesting required information from patients, explaining the specimen collection process, and ensuring patients have followed necessary test protocol prior to specimen collection. They perform phlebotomies, connect/disconnect holter monitors, and perform ECG tracings. Also they perform special test collections, such as medical/legal drug screens, paternity tests, and clinical trials, and complete related documentation. They also prepare specimens for transportation and testing to their mail laboratory. Everyone works together as a cohesive unit, and at the forefront
- 8. is always making the customer’s experience a favourable one while maintaining client relationships, including responding to inquiries and following up on requests. Human resource strategies include employee and labour relations, talent attraction, retention and development, employee engagement, compensation and benefits, and the development of LifeLabs’ Human Resources strategy. v. Describe the Customer Role in service delivery (Margaux) The customers at Lifelabs play a very important role in service delivery. When a customer enters the facility, they must be prepared with their care card and the lab requisition that their doctor provided them with. Without either of those items, they will not be admitted for the service. The customers also must realize that without an appointment, the wait times for service can be quite long, depending on the time of day, and the location they are visiting. If the customer wants a faster service delivery, it is their responsibility to make an appointment ahead of time, either by phone or using the online booking system. The nature of the service that Lifelabs provides can also be painful or scary for some customers. Many people have a fear of needles or blood that can affect the way that they would react to the service at Lifelabs. Many of the tests done at the labs also require advance preparation such as fasting, which would require the customer’s participation and honesty. vi. Describe how Supply and Demand issues will be managed (Rachael) Supply and demand issue management will occur depending on how many patients need to have an appointment versus the number of medical personnel are stationed in Lifelabs medical offices. Lifelabs also makes sure to satisfy all their customers questions,concerns about all the tests any patient can take in
- 9. Lifelabs offices. Lifelabs is trying to keep track of how many patients they will have on a daily basis, this way the medical personnel will know the correct quantity of medical supplies to order for the average workday of the Lifelabs office. Lifelabs morning time is the busiest time, so the waiting time can be little longer than expected even after made an appointment online. This is because there are people who want to get things done first before they go to work or start their day, so they can have more leisure and flexible schedule. In this case, Lifelabs should let clients know how busy they are and try to ask them to make an appointment later in the afternoon if client’s tests are not in a hurry. Also, have only certain days designated for walk-in clients; for example, Mondays and Fridays should be allowed for walk-in clients. vii. Define communications strategies to match service promises with delivery (Douglas) A service promise Lifelabs has made is to reduce the amount of wait time at a Lifelabs lab. Lifelabs will have a communication strategy which gives all customers with an appointment an estimated time in the afternoon or morning hours when they will see a specialist for getting their test completed. This way customers will be more understanding of waiting between five to ten minutes, once they arrive on Lifelabs premises. We communicate with our customers by phone mainly reminding all Lifelabs customers that Lifelabs prefers appointments to receive more efficient service so that their expectations match our service.This includes everything from the website, to signage or posters about Lifelabs. Customers expect from Lifelabs company to provide excellent service when posting results of Customer's tests. Since Lifelabs has been used for several decades customers continue to use Lifelabs because Lifelabs is
- 10. a trusted company, providing excellent testing to their customer base. 6. Describe your anticipated results and how they will be measured (Margaux) With our upgraded appointment making system, we anticipate that customer satisfaction will greatly increase. The ease of being able to make an appointment online from a mobile device or before heading out the door will improve the service that we provide our customers, and in turn, increase our value to them. These results will be measured by online surveys that are sent to customers after their Lifelabs appointment. Email addresses will be collected when customers make the appointment online, which will allow our automated system to send out a quick, five question survey. This will provide valuable information and gage the overall sentiments that our customers have after their visits with Lifelabs. We will monitor the results of the survey and continually strive to better our service. 7. Appendixes i. Gap Analysis Provider Gap 1: The Listening Gap
- 11. 1 = Poor 10 = Excellent 1. Market Research Orientation · Are the amount and type of market research adequate to understand customer expectations of service? 8 · Does the company use this information in decisions about service provision? 8 2. Upward Communications · Do managers and customers interact enough for management to know what customers expect? 7 · Do contact people tell management what customers expect? 8 3. Relationship Focus · To what extent does the company understand the expectations of different customers? 7 · To what extent does the company focus on relationships with customers rather than transactions? 8 4. Service Recovery
- 12. · How effective are the service recovery efforts of the organization? 7 · How well does the organization plan for service failures? 6 Score for Provider Gap 1 (Total Scores for each of the above categories) 59/80 = 74% Provider Gap 2: The Service Design and Standards Gap 1 = Poor 10 = Excellent 5. Systematic Service Design · How effective is the company’s service development process? 8 · How well are new services defined for customers and employees? 8 6. Presence of Customer –Defined Skills · How effective are the company’s service standards? 7 · Are they defined to correspond to customer expectations? 7 · How effective is the process for setting and tracking service quality goals? 8
- 13. 7. Appropriate Physical Evidence and Servicescape · Are the company’s physical facilities, equipment, and other tangibles appropriate to the service offering? 9 · Are the company’s physical facilities, equipment, and other tangibles attractive and effective? 9 Score for Provider Gap 2 (Total Scores for each of the above categories) 56/70= 80% Provider Gap 3: The Service Performance Gap 1 = Poor 10 = Excellent 8. Effective Human Resource Policies · How effectively does the company recruit, hire, train, compensate, and empower employees? 9 · Is service quality delivery consistent across employees, teams, units and branches? 7 9. Effective Role Fulfillment by Customers · Do customers understand their roles and responsibilities? 7 · Does the company manage customers to fulfill their roles, especially customers that are incompatible?
- 14. 7 10. Effective Alignment with Services Intermediaries · How well are service intermediaries aligned with the company? 6 · Is there conflict over objectives and performance, costs and rewards? 7 · Is service quality delivery consistent across the outlets? 7 11. Alignment of Demand and Capacity · How well is the company able to match supply with demand fluctuations? 6 Score for Provider Gap 3 (Total Scores for each of the above categories) 56/80=70% Provider Gap 4: The Communications Gaps 1 = Poor 10 = Excellent 12. Integrated Services Marketing Communications · How well do all company communications – including the interactions between company employees and customers –
- 15. express the same message and level of service quality? 7 · How well does the company – express the same message and level of service quality? 6 · Does the company avoid over promising and overselling? 6 · How well do different parts of the organization communicate with each other. So that service quality equals what is promised? 7 13. Pricing · Is the company careful not to price so high that customer expectations are raised? 7 · Does the company price in line with customer perceptions of value? 7 Score for Provider Gap 4 (Total Scores for each of the above categories) 40/60=67% ii. Research Resources, Survey Samples or Tools Citation websites/resources http://www.cdha.nshealth.ca/pathology-laboratory- medicine/clinical-services/point-care-testing http://www.lifelabs.com/