To improve customer satisfaction
The Mid-Michigan District Health Department (MMDHD) recently completed a quality improvement (QI) project to improve customer satisfaction with the agency’s automated phone system. The project was funded by a grant from the Michigan Public Health Institute, targeting the implementation and expansion of quality improvement methods within local health departments.
An area clearly needing improvement, based on responses from customer satisfaction surveys, was the agency’s phone system. A QI team, consisting of a cross-section of staff members, was organized and trained in a variety of QI tools. The project began with a review of available data and a root cause analysis. Additional baseline data was collected from staff members who routinely answer the phones, as well as from incoming callers. The overall project goal was to reduce misrouted calls by 25 percent.
As a result of the QI team’s work, the agency added menu options to the phone system, standardized menu options across the district and changed call pick-up groups. Initial data shows misrouted calls were reduced by 33 percent.
MMDHD will continue to monitor the newly-formatted telephone system and auto attendant. Client satisfaction surveys will be analyzed on a quarterly basis to identify the impact of these changes on overall improvement in customer satisfaction. Clients who would like to complete a customer satisfaction survey are invited to do so by visiting www.mmdhd.org.
“I truly think residents calling the health department will notice a positive change in our phone system as a result of our QI efforts,” said Kimberly Singh, MMDHD Health Officer. “Participating in this project taught our staff a lot about quality improvement tools and we intend to apply these tools in other areas of the agency, which will allow us to better serve our clients.”
MMDHD’s Quality Improvement Team: Front row, left to right: Bonnie Waterman and Wendy Currie
Back row, left to right: Kimberly Singh (Health Officer), Ross Pope, Jamie Sorgenfrei, Rex Hoyt, and Mark Weber