The BridgeBlog

By Lorraine Schnelle, Co-Founder and EVP of BridgeFront

Remember sitting or standing in a circle and whispering something into the ear of the kid next to you…then watching the faces as your message was passed from person to person. The looks on each face ranged from confusion, surprise, and laughter as you all played the “telephone game.”

This picture popped into my head as I was thinking about a survey question I asked participants in a recent online webinar. The webinar was on educational tools and techniques. The attendees were primarily healthcare finance professionals—many of whom are responsible for managing one or more areas of the revenue cycle.

The survey question was, “What educational activity do you rely on most when delivering staff education?” The top two answers were on the job (OTJ) and one-on-one instruction.

Sounds to me like it could easily turn into the “telephone game” played out in our everyday work world. Don’t get me wrong, the National Training Laboratory found the average retention rate of students participating in “practice by doing” educational activities is 75%. Their study re-enforces the value of OTJ training.

However a word of caution, don’t rely on OTJ or verbal instruction as the main ‘source of truth.’ Because this same study found that only about 5% of what a student hears is retained.

Ensure you have additional educational activities and materials that are and will be used by your staff to support and re-enforce key learning concepts. This material can be in form of online courses, written procedures, video demonstration, work flow diagrams, user manuals, screen shot job aid, etc.

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For more information about BridgeFront’s online education, go to www.bridgefront.com or contact us directly. Call 1-866-447-2211 or send an email to info@bridgefront.com.

By Lorraine Schnelle, Co-Founder & EVP of BridgeFront

Improving the total patient experience is on the agenda of most healthcare organizations today. A newly published whitepaper suggests that customer service—throughout the revenue cycle—plays a vital role in the patient experience.

According to the whitepaper, The Revenue Cycle: An Essential Component in Improving Patient Experience by The Beryl Institute, good customer service—at each step of the revenue cycle process—is often more recognized by patients than quality healthcare; and good customer service often leads to increased patient satisfaction.

A typical revenue cycle in healthcare includes coding, insurance verification, third-party payers, financial counseling, billing, payment, or follow-up and collection. The whitepaper suggests that every step of the revenue process impacts the patient experience—beginning with the patient’s first interaction with the organization in scheduling his/her appointment, to discharge and communications with the finance department.

Here are four suggestions, noted in the whitepaper, for healthcare organizations to improve customer service at every step of the revenue cycle process:

1. Establish patient loyalty as an organization-wide goal
2. Educate employees on the new initiative
3. Train employees on essential interpersonal and soft skills
4. Ensure outsourced business providers also understand the new goals

The whitepaper’s research stems from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) annual survey. The HCAHPS survey is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients’ perspectives of hospital care.

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BridgeFront is a leading provider of revenue cycle and customer service online education. For more information on BridgeFront, go to www.bridgefront.com. If you have specific questions, please contact us directly. Send an email to info@bridgefront.com or call (866) 447-2211.

By Kent Lane, COO of BridgeFront

Companies with new products generally lack good customer support at the beginning of their product launch. However, when you find a product and company that does break the mold, you should shout about it—and ’shouting’ is what the new company Yard Rents just did.

Yard Rents is a new business in the Portland area. Essentially, they’re an outdoor and indoor equipment rental company that delivers and picks up what you need, when you want it and where you need it. Simply go online, select what you need and then ‘presto’ there they are with a van full of what you ordered.

This company is a perfect merger of internet freedom plus real live customer service. Upon delivery, they helped connect the equipment, instruct me on the usage, test the starting of the engine … and even made sure that I was wearing the right safety devices.

“Holly paradigm shift Batman!” (If you are old enough to remember the TV series Batman and Robin, you enjoyed that quote … if not old enough, sorry.)

These guys have taken the aloof sense of the internet and personalized it to the point where I feel as connected to them as I do any brick and mortar company I do business with. No more will I haunt rental companies, stand in their lines, and tout heavy equipment around … never again. Just point click and open the front door to a smiling, knowledgeable Yard Rents team member.

See them at www.yardrents.com (Portland, Oregon area only for now).

And … while you’re in the learning mood, take a look at your customer service departments. Would someone ’shout’ about them? One look and you may see a cross section of employees that certainly know how to communicate electronically…but can they successfully communicate to your patients and clients?

Give them the training they need to become ambassadors of your organization.  Our ‘Communicating with Customers’ e-learning series will transform any text’er to a successful verbal communicator. Courses are about 20 minutes each, and include real-life experiences and expert tips to handle any situation. Act today; take a look online and then call us at (866) 447-2211. Mention this blog post and get an additional 5% off.

By Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor

We hear what bugs people a lot in customer service – and often. One of the most common compliants we’ve heard recently is that we’re told “no problem” from those serving us on the phone or in-person. Instead of a genuine “thank you” or something else that might be more appropriate, some insist on saying “no problem.”

When a customer is asking for something, most would rather hear, “I’ll be happy to get that for you” instead of “no problem.”

Did you ever wonder where the expression “no problem” came from? Ever been on a cruise? Well if you have, you know that if you wanted six more desserts, the waiter will tell you, “No problem.” In fact, everyone seems to be saying “no problem” everywhere on the ship for just about everything.

And, when you come down to it, it’s not a terrible thing to say to someone. Now, there are those that don’t find it offensive; however, it seems as though there are many more who do! It’s not a dirty word. It’s not a swear word. It is, however, an inappropriate word. It started in the islands and made its way to our country.

So today, we’re concentrating on eliminating “no problem” and sharing a few other phrases that are more “customer friendly.” Try using words that turn people on instead of turning them off. Example: The other day in a restaurant, I asked for some water without ice. And I got the old, “No problem.” The person with me asked, “Why would requesting water without ice be a problem?” I was used to the expression so I didn’t give it too much thought.

A more appropriate answer to my request might have been, “Certainly. I will get that for you.” Or, even mirroring my request like, “Water with no ice? My pleasure.”

So, when you are tempted to offer up a “no problem,” it is best you remember the public would like a genuine and simple “thank you.” Now why is that a problem?

Reprinted with permission of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, St. Louis, MO. Nancy Friedman, president, is a featured speaker at association and corporate meetings. She has appeared on OPRAH, The Today Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and many others and has written articles for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. For more information, log on to www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314-291-1012.

For more customer service tips, explore BridgeFront’s Communication Skills e-learning. Visit our website at www.bridgefront.com, send an email to info@bridgefront.com or call 1-866-447-2211.

“The end is near” was a common thread throughout the recent American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) national conference in Long Beach, CA earlier this month—the end of ICD-9 that is. As  ICD-10 begins, many fear the worst as it will be an incredible challenge for healthcare organizations across the country adapt to the new codes.

BridgeFront’s VP of Sales, Mark Macdonell, attended the conference. He said, “One thing most don’t know is that the conversion will affect each and every healthcare employee, not just the coders. Even the American Medical Association (AMA) stated at the conference that it’s impossible right now to understand the breadth of changes for the healthcare community.”

Macdonell adds that ‘Armageddon’ came to mind as he listened to the woes of the healthcare organizations attending the conference and the speakers addressing the conversion to ICD-10 in the educational sessions.

The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare (CMS) website offers a quick overview of the ICD-10 requirements. The CMS says, “On and after October 1, 2013, ICD-10 codes must be used on all transactions, including outpatient claims with dates of service, and inpatient claims with dates of discharge. Otherwise, your claims and other transactions may be rejected, and you will need to resubmit them with the ICD-10 codes. This could result in delays and may impact your reimbursements, so it is important to start now to prepare for the changeover to ICD-10 codes.”

Despite the ominous outlook, there is light at the end of the tunnel. BridgeFront is in the process of developing a series of ICD-10 online courses for healthcare organizations. Stay tuned for more information on this new Revenue Cycle e-learning curriculum in the coming weeks.

For more information on BridgeFront’s current Revenue Cycle online education, go to www.bridgefront.com/solutions_education_revenue.php. You can also contact us directly. Call 866-447-2211 or send an email to info(at)bridgefront.com.

Next week we are flying to sunny Orlando for the 2011 Healthcare Compliance Association’s (HCCA) Compliance Institute—that takes place April 10-13. We’re excited about our debut appearance at the conference in booth number 109. Here are three reasons you should be excited too:

#1 Live Demonstrations of Our New Mobile Learning Platform

Did you know that 2011 was dubbed ‘the year of mobile?’ Mobile learning is catching on like wildfire and BridgeFront is one of the first e-learning providers to offer it. Don’t miss a glimpse at the future of e-learning by joining us for a 5-minute demonstration of the new mobile learning platform. Learn first-hand about the evolving world of e-learning.

#2 Chance to Win a SmartPen

Stop by and enter our drawing for a chance to win a SmartPen—this product is a great learning tool which converts written notes and audio into text, right on your own computer. This tool is ideal for seminars, conference sessions, workplace meetings, and much more.

#3 Meet BridgeFront Face-to-Face

BridgeFront team members Tamara Wanamaker and Chelsey Slack will be in booth number 109 ready to meet you and answer your questions. We are also attending the afternoon “speed networking” session on Sunday, April 10—it’s like speed dating, but for attendees and exhibitors to network.

The 2011 HCCA Compliance Institute, the nation’s largest compliance conference, is expecting more than 2,000 attendees. Here are some of the topics covered in the educational sessions: long-term care, privacy and security, physician compliance, legal and regulatory, auditing and monitoring, and quality of care. Learn more about the conference by visiting www.compliance-institute.org.

BridgeFront offers compliance online education, written compliance guides, template policies and procedures, and risk assessment services. Since 2002, BridgeFront has served more than 10,000 organizations with its educational services. Learn more about BridgeFront’s compliance education by visiting www.bridgefront.com.

By Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor

When you take the “friendly” out of “Business Friendly” all you have left is business – business as usual; now, we all know that’s just not good enough.

Being “Business Friendly” is for all touch points of customer service. Any way you touch or reach out to your customers on the phone, in person, by email, voicemail, fax or snail mail, we need to be Business Friendly.

You may be asking yourself, “What the heck is Business Friendly’?” Well, it’s the middle ground between being too cold, impersonal, and uncaring, and the other extreme of being too overly familiar. We’ve all experienced both I’m sure.

Here are the five points in delivering Business Friendly customer service.

#1 Every Call is Unique – Don’t Become Desensitized

The customer transaction you have at the end of the day needs to be as upbeat and helpful as the first one of the day. Often times we get the same questions over and over, and it’s easy to become desensitized. We need to remember that to the customer, their question is new to them; and it’s the first time for them, no matter the time of day.

#2 Solve the Problem – Don’t Argue

You know the old saying: “the customer is always right.” Well, at Telephone Doctor we’ve changed that around to “the customer thinks they’re always right” and that’s the perception we need to deal with. There are indeed times when the customer is wrong and we as service specialists know and realize it. What value is it to tell them: “Oh Mr. Jones, you are WRONG.” None is there? So focus on the problem; don’t worry about whose fault it is. There is zero value in arguing with a customer. You will lose every  time. Focus on solving the problem.

#3 Show Empathy – Don’t Ignore What The Customer Says

The other day, I called a company and explained that a product they sold me wasn’t operating properly. The answer from the company representative? “Oh, OK.” AGGGGGG. That drives me crazy. First of all, it’s NOT OK that the product wasn’t working right. And secondly, where was the empathy? Where was some sort of acknowledgement that they indeed heard what I was calling about. You can have empathy in happy and good things, too. Empathy isn’t only for disasters and bad times. You can join in when someone mentions a birthday, a vacation, a wedding, or anything that is happy. Point is, don’t ignore what they say. COMMENT on it.

#4 Smile

Yup, the customer can hear it. We all know that. And since we all know that, we all need to do it. And by the way, smiling is showing your teeth. If your teeth aren’t showing, you’re only grinning – not smiling. Grins can’t be heard!

#5 Avoid Emotional Leakage

What? Okay, what’s emotional leakage, Nancy? Well, that’s getting mad at Peter and taking it out on Paul. Not right, not fun and not fair. It is wrong to take a negative thought or emotion about one person and transfer it to another. Here’s how to avoid emotional leakage immediately:

1. Take a deep breath

2. Regain your professional composure

3. Smile (Even if it’s phony)

4. Then start the transaction

Being Business Friendly will make a huge difference in customer satisfaction. Don’t be cool and aloof and don’t get too familiar; be the middle ground and deliver Business Friendly customer service.

Reprinted with permission of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, St. Louis, MO. Nancy Friedman, president, is a featured speaker at association and corporate meetings. She has appeared on OPRAH, The Today Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and many others and has written articles for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. For more information, log on to www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314-291-1012.

For more customer service tips, explore BridgeFront’s Communication Skills e-learning. Visit our website at www.bridgefront.com, send an email to info@bridgefront.com or call 1-866-447-2211.

By Nancy Friedman, the Telephone Doctor

We all know we’ve left companies due to poor service; and we know, too, there are more than five unforgivable customer service mistakes. This list is a summary from the many emails and comments I receive over the years.

While it’s all common sense—we know common sense is not all that common. So I continue to share this information in the hopes we can make some inroads around the world.

1. Not being friendly enough

Without exception, this is the number one customer service mistake. Customers should be treated as welcomed guests when they call or visit your business. As we’ve all experienced, sometimes we’re treated as an annoyance or an interruption. Remember the Telephone Doctor motto: “Be friendly before you know who it is.”

2. Poor eye contact

Heads that twirl on a spindle while working with a customer are a big mistake. It’s a sure sign the person you’re talking with isn’t holding your interest when you’re glancing around and they will notice it very quickly.

3. Talking with co-workers and ignoring or not acknowledging the customer

This customer service mistake unfortunately happens a lot. Drop the internal conversation as soon as you see the customer. While talking with a customer on the phone, it’s a big no-no to continue your conversation with someone in the office.

4. Being rude

No one thinks he or she is being rude; certainly not on purpose. However, the customer can perceive many things you do as rude. And as they say, “perception is reality.”

5. Poor product knowledge

When working with a customer, if you’re not familiar with the products and services your business offers, you’ll be making a big mistake. Take the time to learn about your company. Customers don’t care if you’re new, working on a temporary assignment, or if it’s not your department. All they want is help and information. Ask to be trained. Ask for more information from your company.

Again, there are certainly more than five unforgivable customer service mistakes. However, these consistently keep rising to the top when I speak at conferences so I feel they are very important.

Based on how much business is lost due to poor service, if we can combat just these five mistakes we’ll be on our way to much better service. Post this list where your folks can see them; have a meeting to discuss them; talk about how to avoid them. It’s all doable!

Reprinted with permission of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, St. Louis, MO. Nancy Friedman, president, is a featured speaker at association and corporate meetings. She has appeared on OPRAH, The Today Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and many others and has written articles for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. For more information, log on to www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314-291-1012.

For more customer service tips; explore BridgeFront’s Communication Skills e-learning. Visit our website at www.bridgefront.com, send an email to info@bridgefront.com or call 866-447-2211.

By Nancy Friedman, President of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training

• “Gee, I’m so sorry.”
• “Sorry ’bout that.”
• “My apologies, I didn’t mean to.”

There are probably dozens of ways to apologize and many more ways of accepting one. How important is an apology? Why do we apologize? And what words seem to work better than others?

You get the picture. When you look up the word APOLOGY, it reads:

To express or make an apology; acknowledging failings or faults.

And the words I’m sorry and I apologize are NOT always interchangeable. Example: A parent passes away and we normally say:

I’m so sorry to hear about your loss.

“I apologize your father passed away” just doesn’t seem right. However, both can be easily used in an apology; to acknowledge a failing or fault.

When you bump into someone at the mall, instinctively, most of us say, “Oh I’m so sorry” or you could say, “I apologize, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” In this case they’re interchangeable. Think for a moment what you’re thinking when someone does bump into you and they don’t apologize? Hmmmm?

On a recent bumpy flight the pilot came on and said: “I apologize for the bumpy flight.” He also could have said, “Sorry folks, for the bumpy flight.” Again, ‘interchangeable.’

Apologies in Business vs. Personal

Seems as though personal apologies might be a little easier than a business apology. In my opinion, that’s because we normally know the person fairly well in the personal setting and can figure out what to say and do a little easier. And often we can even send candy, flowers or something else in a bribery fashion so to speak.

However, when something happens in a business setting and the customer is IRATE and is in need of an apology, that’s a different story. In many cases we don’t get to meet all of our customers and if we do it’s normally on a pretty limited basis. Most of the time it’s a phone call. And then, of course, even if we are more familiar with the business customer, where is that line in the sand? Dare we cross over it?

For an apology in the business arena, we suggest using the word APOLOGIZE. It’s a classier word; raises the bar. To just be ’sorry’ for something can easily diminish the effectiveness of the apology.

“Mr. Smith, I apologize for sending the wrong invoice. That’s got to be very frustrating.”

To simply push it away with, “Sorry about sending the wrong invoice” takes the sensitivity and meaningfulness away.

And what if you’re not wrong and the customer still perceives you as wrong? Do you still need to apologize? Of course you do. It doesn’t matter if you’re right or wrong. When the customer perceives you’re wrong, you’re wrong.

And for those who say “the customer is always right,” we ask you to change that to the mentality we use, “the customer always thinks they’re right.” And that’s the perception we need to deal with.

Timing of Apology

The immediacy of an apology is key. Whichever you use, I’m sorry or I apologize, do not delay. The sooner those words are used, the closer they are to the happening, the more effective they are.

Don’t wait to say I’m sorry or I apologize. They’re like please and thank you. Important and very relevant.

Easy Rule of Thumb to Remember

You’re SORRY when you step on someone’s toes. (A human emotion)

We APOLOGIZE when the customer is unhappy. He perceives we have done something wrong; we failed. (An incident)

Ineffective Apologies

You hear it all the time, “Sorry ’bout that.” That’s a cliché;  not an apology. Lose it.  Say it fully: “I’m sorry I gave you the wrong change.” Sorry ’bout that doesn’t cut it.

Reprinted with permission of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training, St. Louis, MO. Nancy Friedman, president, is a featured speaker at association and corporate meetings. She has appeared on OPRAH, The Today Show, CNN, FOX News, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and many others and has written articles for USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. For more information, log on to www.telephonedoctor.com or call 314-291-1012.

For more customer service tips; explore BridgeFront’s Communication Skills e-learning courses. Visit our website at www.bridgefront.com, send an email to info@bridgefront.com or call 866-447-2211.

By Peter N. Cizik, CEO of BridgeFront

If you don’t know what you don’t know – then what? How’s that for a little riddle at this beginning of the New Year?

We’ve been working with several Regional Extension Centers across the country trying to decipher how to structure our new Meaningful Use education in a way that is most helpful for providers. One area that’s obvious is education on how to perform a HIPAA risk assessment, since that is one of the core measures of the Meaningful Use criteria.  OK – go ahead and roll your eyes – here we go again! Many provider practices hear this and say: “We’re fine!” “We already did this years ago.” “My Office Manager took care of it.”

However, if someone walked into to your office today and said, “Show me written evidence of a risk assessment,” could you do it? You may be just fine, but if you can’t show it and show that it’s relatively current, then you don’t meet the test of HIPAA compliance. By the way – insert Business Associate anywhere I refer to providers – all these rules apply to you as well!

Here’s the real reason you should care – a proper risk assessment will do several things:

1. Validate that any controls that have been implemented are actually working.

2. Identify areas that lack controls that should have something implemented.

3. Provide an audit trail documenting that each area of risk identified within the HIPAA regulations has been analyzed and addressed.

You now know what you don’t know – and can do something about it.

Things can still go haywire and result in a breach, but with written evidence of a risk assessment you can show that you’ve applied “reasonable” effort to prevent it. That is the goal. BridgeFront is developing a course to help organizations perform their own risk assessment. We hope this will demystify the whole process for those who’ve never formally completed one or those that should do it again. Now, this is not a “one off” event. You need to periodically refresh the assessment to make sure what you thought you knew… is still accurate.

Happy New Year everyone!