Service Culture Paper

Service Culture Paper

Sheri Coleman

BRM/226

Service Culture Paper

The largest nonprofit integrated health care system is Kaiser Permanente. This healthcare system consists of three distinctly separate but connected entities. The company’s goals strive to provide affordable and high-quality care and management of healthcare for the population.

Societal Factor Affecting Customer Service

Various social factors can affect customer service. One of these factors are the technological advancements. Within Kaiser Permanente, they have recently incorporated utilizing more advanced technology to aid in patient care. For example, some office visits are being conducted via web communication. Patients are being assessed medically via a TV monitor as opposed to being seen in person (Soldano, 2016). Increased racial and ethnic diversity in the workforce is a societal factor affecting the Kaiser Customer service. The diversity of workforce witnessed in the organization reflects the rich diversity of its communities, members, and patients, which enhances the quality of care provided to diverse patients.

Customer Service Environment Components

In a customer service environment, there are six components. The customer is the first and most important component. Since Kaiser is a medical business, they are a service industry, and their job is to address the needs of patients through the continuum of care to maximize the health of the population.

Organizational culture is the second component of Kaiser’s customer care environment. Kaiser’s corporate culture is based on compliance, ethics, integrity, and diversity. Diversity is the strength of the organization, and it is what defines its culture.

Human resources is the third component. Being an award-winning leader in the provision of health care, Kaiser uses an effective hiring process that assembles an extraordinary team of human resources, and that matches the right talent with the right roles (McCarthy, Mueller & Wrenn, 2009). The organization ensures there is an excellent benefits package, and the working environment is unique,

Products/deliverable is the fourth customer care environment component. The organization’s main deliverables are primary care, specialty care, hospital services, My Doctor Online tools, health education, and KP HealthConnect electronic medical records among others.

The delivery system component involves the provision of integrated care through around the clock telephone access to clinical staff, acute and emergency services. There are also “ambulatory transitional care programs for high intensity chronic medical conditions that help in managing patients before they seek emergency department care and after they are discharged (Pines, Selevan, McStay, George & McClellan, 2015).”

Service is the last customer care component of Kaiser Permanente, and everyone who works at Kaiser does so to save lives. The leadership is excellent and the employees are caring. From the customer service team to IT professionals, the bottom line is to affect people’s lives positively. All this trickles down to great experiences for the patients.

Signs Noticed That Reflected the Organization’s Cultural Philosophy

Kaiser Permanente mission statement reflects the organization’s cultural philosophy. The organization’s cultural philosophy is based on diversity of both the employees and patients. The values that guide this cultural philosophy are integrity, ethics, and compliance. Kaiser’s mission statement reflects this culture because it states that its main aim is to provide care that is of high quality and affordable, with the purpose of improving the health of the members and communities it serves.

How the Service Was Delivered and How the Delivery Indicated the Organization’s Philosophy Related To Customer Service

Service delivery at Kaiser reflected the organization’s philosophy as related to customer care. It has an aligned structure and a relationship between its different entities that lead to an efficient acute care delivery system which addresses the needs of patients across the broad ranges of care. This, in turn, maximizes the health of the population it serves. The health care system has more than 9.6 million diverse members. The organization uses a capitated payment system that aligns the three distinctly separate but related entities: hospital system, health plan and a medical group of physicians (Berwick, 2010). The alignment, in turn, helps in maintaining affordability to the members and patients. The organization offers around the clock telephone access to nurses who provide clinical advice to consumers which have facilitated care. Moreover, the organization has come up with numerous acute and emergency clinical pathways that help in giving patients quality care.

What the Service Said About the Organization’s Approach to Service

The services offered and modes of delivery reveal that Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to the provision of quality and affordable care. The organization aims to eliminate critical care costs by preventing the reoccurrence of critical health problems in in the beginning. Kaiser uses information systems and underlying incentives that incorporate the three strategies mentioned. The options for emergency care that Kaiser provides to people with acute health issues make use of less expensive hospital-based care.

Indicators of Employee Motivators and Rewards

One of the major indications of Kaiser’s employee motivators is the unique and innovative Total Health Incentive Plan (THIP). This plan encourages the Kaiser Permanente employees to make their health a priority. Health improvements of employees are measured and rewards given out on a regional basis. There are no penalties for failing to meet health goals. Employees receive incentives for completing Total Health Assessment, improvement in blood pressure, BMI, smoking, and cholesterol biometric risk measures and maintaining current biometric screenings among others. The program is voluntary, and employees can win cash rewards of up to $500.

Indications That Training of Employees Occurs

Kaiser Permanente holds annual SAFE (Safety Awareness for Everyone) whereby the entire community that includes the local areas being served, patients and co-workers are involved. The SAFE training focuses on improving workplace safety and patient safety, new knowledge is imparted, and current procedures are reviewed (Berwick, 2010). This annual training benefits the patients, communities, and employees. Customer care training is conducted in Kaiser and training focuses on phone skills, communication skills and how to handle different personalities.

References

Berwick, D. M. (2010). Connected for Health: using electronic health records to transform care delivery. John Wiley & Sons.

McCarthy, D., Mueller, K., & Wrenn, J. (2009). Kaiser Permanente: Bridging the quality divide with integrated practice, group accountability, and health information technology. New York: Commonwealth Fund.

Pines, J., Selevan, J., McStay, F., George, M., & McClellan, M. (2015). Kaiser Permanente–California: a model for integrated care for the ill and injured. Washington.: The Brookings Institution Center for Health Policy at Brookings.

Soldano, S. K. (2016, August). Workplace wellness programs to promote cancer prevention. In Seminars in oncology nursing (Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 281-290). WB Saunders.