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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Customer Satisfaction Surveys

These are an exercise in futility. We are doomed to fail.
Forget focusing on the wait times. Forget whether or not we smiled. Forget whether or not we reminded you to call the 1-800-4-GIFT-CARD phone number. We are a profession. Even hospitals and prescriber offices that have been using feedback forms don't trivialize their profession to the degree that the pharmacies do.
Could you imagine a nurse on a hospital floor discharging a patient and saying "make sure you call the 1-800# to tell us about your stay"? Or the X-Ray tech wearing a badge that reads "How's my picture taking?".
Let's ask the real questions, important to our profession.

Did you receive the correct prescription?
Did you receive the correct medication?
Did you receive counseling/the offer to counsel on your prescription?
Did you hear about side effects from your pharmacist?
Did you ask the pharmacist any questions about your medication?
Did your pharmacist have to call your prescriber for clarification?
(If Yes, did she explain why?)
(If Yes, did she potentially save your life?)
(If Yes, are you thankful?)
Did you call the pharmacist after getting home and realizing you did have questions?
Did she answer them for you?
(Note: I did not say "answer with what you wanted to hear".)
Did you seek advice on OTC medications today?
(If Yes, were you satisfied with the knowledge of the pharmacist even though you may not have purchased the recommended/correct/any product?)
Would you seek out this pharmacy for its knowledgable pharmacist again?
Would you recommend this pharmacist to other people?

I'm not seeking a "5" or perfect score whenever I visit a business. I expect them to be good all the time or I wouldn't go there. I expect to be surprised once in a while with excellent service, but I do not feel it can be achieved every single time. I have had bad meals at well-renowned restaurants. It's an anomaly, not a pattern. Were it my first impression, I may change my tune, but they'd get a second chance. No one can be perfect all the time. Pharmacists need to challenge corporations to do away with the Satisfaction Happiness Index Taking (SHIT). Whatever the name, people are more likely to call to complain than they are to praise. This skews the results.
A better idea would be exit polls. Let's have a person using my checklist stand by the front door to get a Pulse Of the Customer immediately upon completion of her visit.

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