Course Outcomes
This customer service basics course for healthcare professionals will:
- Provide participants with a clear explanation of the importance of improving the patient experience as patients move through a continuum of care.
- Review professional communication skills during face-to-face interaction.
- Introduce best practices for communicating with care on the phone and by email.
- Share tools for active listening to best understand underlying concerns and fears.
- Highlight best practices and strategies for dealing with difficult people and challenging situations.
Course Overview
While customer service skills are to some extent universal, people working in healthcare environments face a set of circumstances not always found in other industries.
A Matter of Patients: Communication Skills for Better Customer Interaction in Healthcare offers tools and tips specific to delivering a positive patient experience. This online, instructor-led program consists of two two-hour training segments.
These modules address such topics as service standards, professional face-to-face and telephone interactions, what to say and what not to say, empathetic communication, de-escalation skills, and stress management.
This program is ideally suited for healthcare organizations that wish to provide their seasoned teams with a refresher and for those who are taking the first steps toward building a patient-centric culture.
Segment One Objectives
At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Recognize what patient satisfaction and great service look like in healthcare.
- Identify who the different customers are in a healthcare setting and what they expect.
- Interact professionally with patients and families face to face.
- Review strategies for sending clear, concise messages when speaking and writing.
- Use best practices to present a professional image on the telephone.
Segment One Modules
- A Matter of Service: Understanding the Patient Experience
- Great Expectations: Exploring What Internal and External Customers Want
- Clarity Counts: Removing Ambiguity
- A Great Send-Off: Formulating Messages
- Long-Distance: Following Best Practices for Communicating on the Telephone
Segment Two Objectives
At this segment’s conclusion, participants should be able to:
- Practice active listening and responding with empathy.
- Handle difficult patients, family members, and co-workers.
- Create positive outcomes when faced with challenging situations.
- Manage stress and burnout.
Segment Two Modules
- Affective, Cognitive, and Somatic Empathy: Understanding Others
- What’s Said and What’s Not Said: Receiving Messages
- Navigating Thorns: De-escalating Tense Situations
- Stress Management: Preventing Burnout
By the conclusion of this online program for healthcare providers, participants should be able to apply the skills learned immediately.