TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

CASE STUDY II
FRONT OFFICE AND PUBLIC RELATION IN INLAKS GENREAL HOSPITAL

BY, DR. SULAKSHANA K. YADAV. ROLL NO. 017 DHA 2011 12

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I sincerely thank Dr. C.A.K. Yesudian (The Dean of department of Health services of Tata Institute of Social Sciences) for giving this opportunity. I am also thankful to Dr. Mariappan for his valuable guidance during the process of completion of this case study. And great full to Mr. Dr. Chintamani Medical Director of Inlaks General Hospital for giving permission to conduct the study to the hospital. And I am very thank full to all front office staff for their kinds support and publics / patients of Inlaks General Hospital for giving me their valuable time for interview without them it could not be possible for me to complete the study

FRONT OFFICE AND PUBLIC RELATION IN INLAKS GENERAL HOSPITAL

      

INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVES METHODOLOGY DATA ANALYSIS AND KEY FINDINGS RECOMMENDATION BIBILOGRAPHY ANNEXURE

INTRODUCTION:-

In the context of a hospital, Front office refers to the department which carries out the function of Registration, Admission, Discharge and Transfer of patients. The definition can also be extended to include the enquiry counter or help desk and the telephone operator, for they also directly interact with patients and their relatives. It is therefore imperative that the persons performing these functions are completely knowledgeable about the various services offered by the hospital, the occupancy status of the beds, and also know whom to direct an enquiry to in case of doubt. They should possess good linguistic skills considering the diverse population of our country. The Front office of the hospital has often been described as the Heart of the Hospital. The importance of the Front office, apart from the actual work performed, lies chiefly in the field of public relations. Admitting procedures must be fair on the basis of need and contacts with patients, relatives and friends must be in a spirit of kindness and consideration. Good admitting procedures play an important part in making a favorable impression on the patient and on his relatives and friends. The Front office thus holds one of the most strategic positions in the hospital organization. It is here that hospital Patient and public relationships are started; for it is here that the patient forms his first and usually more lasting impressing of the hospital and it is here that the patients relatives and friends begin to evaluate the services of the institution.

Public Relation: - Officer (PRO) one of the most important personnel in

front desk. PRO is the planned and sustained efforts to establish and maintain good will and mutual understanding between and organization and its public.

FUNCTIONS OF FRONT OFFICE:    To identify and analyze public needs and problems. Recognize the most common reasons for public complaints. Discover techniques to cultivate and maintain special public relationships Assess communication style and use two-way communication skills to level with people, to accept feedback from them, and to discuss problems.  Identify specific problems in public service program and apply treatment.

The hospital is required to keep complete register of guest essential for other departments also:
     Medical Record Admission Billing Ward / Diagnostic Others

Cash Collection: The registered amount to be collected from the guest and
will be deposit to the cash at the end of the day/ before closing the counter / handover to the person

Introduction to problem why publics or patients leave hospital.

1% die. 3% move away. 5% develop other relationships. 9% leave for competitive reasons. 14% are dissatisfied with product or service. 68% leave because of rude or discourteous service

Important factors contributing problems:a) Common excuses from staff

 I don't have enough time.  I don't get paid to be nice. I am measured by my productivity and accuracy.  How can we do a good job if the computer is always down?  Every customer is totally bonkers today  I can't deal with people who do not show me respect.  How can we do a good job if the other departments do not provide the back-up we need?  I am having a bad day.  People are basically stupid.  I am always too busy

b) Expectation of public
     Value me. Greet me. Help me. Listen to me. Invite me back

OBJECTIVES:1) To describe the current scenario of front desk and public relation. 2) To identify scope for improvement in communication of front desk staff and public. 3) To review or setting up the relation between front office and public.

METHODOLOGY:1) Data Collection:a) Primary data collection done by:Questioners to the public / patients or relatives Questioners to the staffs of front desk Telephonic Interviews: - There is not data available in the records of the hospital because till date no interview is taken while patient get discharge, but data is made available by interviewing discharge patient on telephone, The set of 10 questionnaire was made and answers are made available on phone.

b) Secondary data collection done by:Form HR Department by reviewing feedback from patients or relatives for last 3 months.

Data analysis:Sampling Technique:1) Questionnaire method 2) Interview method Telephone interview 3) Feedback forms

Sample size:1) Questionnaires: - a) 100 patients / relatives interviewed. b) 6 employee of front office in different section interviewed. 2) Telephonic interview: - 20 patients are interviewed on phone. 3) Feedback form Total 120 forms study.

TABLE (I):Characteristics of the Sample

Sr. No. 1 Data Primary Data Description Interview Phone Employee Data Questioners to public Feedback Forms Total 20 6 100 120 246 Use full Data 16 6 72 18 112

N = 246
Un use full Data 4 0 28 102 134

Secondary Data Total Data

The above table characterized the collected sample data Total available data is Collected Use Full Data Collected Un Use Full Data 246 112 134 100% 46% 54%

TABLE (II):DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF THE PATIENT / RELATIVES Sr. No. 1 i) ii) iii) iv) v) 2) i) ii) Demographic Data Age/Years 17 25 25 40 40 - 55 55 75 75 - 99 Gender Male Female 15 30 15 10 2 20.83% 41.66% 20.83% 13.88% 2.7% Frequency % N = 72

34 38

47.2% 52.8%

The tables (II) deal with the demographic data of the sample in the following aspects. Age:20.83% of sample belongs to age group 17 25 41.66% of sample belongs to age group 25 40 20.83% of sample belongs to age group 40 55 13.88% of sample belongs to age group 55 75 2.7% of sample belongs to age group 75 99

Gender:52.8% of samples were females and 47.2% were males

TABLE (III):Table (III) deal with knowledge of main problems or causes which contributes problems in front desk and public N = 72 Assessment of Problem CAUSES OR PROBLEM:a) Difficulty of getting registration b) Long waiting line for admission c) Poor Counseling Process / PRO Desk d) Poor Query handling and courtesy / communication Frequency 12 11 24 25 % 17% 15% 33% 35%

17% of sample states that there is a difficulty and getting registration for new OPD patients as the counter is less as per requirement during OPD timings so waiting time is more. 15% of sample state that there is long waiting line for admission as only one person is doing that and no emergency counter is there. 33% of sample state that there is poor counseling process from PRO desk and many of them are not aware of PRO desk function so people gathered in front of clerical counter for counseling. 35% of sample state that there is no courtesy and query handling system in the front desk staff or very poor communication within them and with public.

Graphical representation
Explanation of each factors:-

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 Category 4 Series 3 Column1

Table (IV)
Demographic data of the samples collected from front desk employee Sr. No. 1 A B C 2 A B 3 Demographic Data AGE ( IN YEARS) 20 30 30 40 40 - 50 Gender Male Female QUALIFICATION HSC Graduation WORK EXPERIENCE IN YEAR 1 10 10 - 20 20 - 30 DEPARTMENT Counter Clerk PRO Billing Counter Frequency 2 3 1 % 33.33% 50% 16.66% N=6

1 5

16.66% 83.33%

0 6

0 100

5 0 1

83.33% 16.66

2 1 3

33.33% 16.66% 50%

Age:33.33% of the sample belonged to the age group 20 30 50% of the sample belonged to the age group to 30 40 16.66% of the sample belonged to the age group to 40 50

Gender:83.33% of samples where females 16.66% of samples were males

Qualification:100% of the samples are graduate

Work Experience:Majority of 83.33% of samples have work experience of 1 10 years. 16.66% have experience of 20 25 years.

Department:33.33% of samples are from Counter clerk 16.66% of samples are from PRO Desk 50% of samples are from billing counter

Table (V)

N=6

Collection of samples in relation to the factors contributing public behavior and front office Assessment of problem High Work Load Less Staffing Good System or Procedures Frequency Agree Dis Agree 6 0 3 3 3 3 % 100% 50% 50%

100% of samples state that there is an high work load 50% of samples state that staffing is not adequate 50% of samples state that there are no proper systems and procedures.

CONCLUSION: The above data analysis concluded that,  Front office service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction.  The feeling that a service has met the customer expectation.  Reorganization of the most common reasons for public complaints is necessary.  Discover techniques to cultivate and maintain special customer relationships.  Assess front desk and PRO communication style and use two-way communication  Skills to level with people.  To accept Feedback from them, and to discuss problems.  Be considerate, friendly &affable.  Practice courtesy. Say -please.  Tell the truth by all means, but with tact & kindness.  Explain. Do it patiently.  Accommodate the other viewpoints.  Allow criticism.  A remarkable outcome of the present study is that front office services and discharge process with PRO relation have emerged as critical factors for the patient satisfaction.

RECOMMENDATION:Train your employees: A formal orientation and training session for front desk employees is critical because you can teach them your system and they dont just invent their own The query handling and courtesy of staff play important role in satisfaction of patient. Staff should explain the queries in simple terms. There should be queue so that patient comes one by one to avoid gathering. PRO training and orientation programme can be arranged frequent meeting for evaluation of performance PRO should contribute in query handling thus saves the time of counter clerk Dress code to staff to distinguish staff from others Guide and sign board to provide information about each departmental counter Introduce new services and service bundles quickly Perform various checking to reduce error rate Handle pending patients/guests efficiently Handle and synchronize customer and product data Proper communication with minimum time. Staff should be polite

Staff of the front desk should have following Qualities:(a) Proper job knowledge (b) Motivation to serve Persuasiveness (d) Planning (e) Situation analysis (f) Work standards Listen first, and then offer solution If they cannot resolve the problem ask supervisor/Superior to resolve the problem. Offer alternatives The organization should take care of behavior of front desk employee and public consideration of the future of the organization and the good patient care services. The main goal is to have each patient leave with a smile / satisfaction on their face and a feeling of having, well take care of by management and front desk employees.

ANNEXURE

FRONT DESK AND PUBLIC RELATION

QUESTIONNAIRS TO STAFF OF FRONT DESK
NAME: AGE: POST HELD: NO:SEX:WORKING SINCE:-

1) HOW did they find work load in hospital. a) Good b) Better c) Less 2) How is staffing pattern a) Sufficient in number b) Better in number c) Less in number 3) How did they find system of work? a) Satisfactory b) Un-satisfactory 4) Any suggestion for improvement

FRONT DESK AND PUBLIC RELATION

QUESTIONNAIRS TO Patients / Relatives
NAME: AGE: NO:SEX:-

1) How did you know I.G.H. or by whose reference have you come to I.G.H. a) b) c) d) By Own Relatives / Friends Private Dr./consultant Other

2) Problems faced during admission procedure ; if yes then statement of public a) Yes b) No 3) Are you know about PRO desk a) Yes b) No 4) How much they satisfied about and why I) Ease and getting Registration a) Fully Satisfied b) Partially Satisfied c) Absolutely Not II) Waiting time of Admission

a) Fully Satisfied b) Partially Satisfied c) Absolute Not

III)

Discharge Procedure

a) Fully Satisfied b) Partially Satisfied c) Absolutely Not Satisfied IV) Billing Procedure

a) Fully Satisfied b) Partially Satisfied c) Not Satisfied V) a) b) c) d) Counseling Process / PRO Desk Fully Satisfied Partially Satisfied Not Satisfied None of above Reception Desk

VI) e) f) g) h)

Fully Satisfied Partially Satisfied Not Satisfied None of above

VII)

Query handling and courtesy / Communication of Staff

a) Fully Satisfactory b) Partially Satisfactory c) Not Satisfactory

5) Suggestion: - What improvements would you like to see in the Front office and PRO desk.

FEEDBACK FORMS FOR HIGHER CLASS

FEEDBACK FORMS FOR GENERAL CLASS

BIBILOGRAPHY:1) International conference on technology and business management 2) Hospital planning, design and management By G.D.Kundars, S.Gopinathan, Asoka 3) www.google.co.in