Customer satisfaction is a major component of a quality management system, and a significant a focus in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Ultimately, the laboratory produces a product—the test result—for its customers. If the customer is not well served, the laboratory is not achieving its primary function.
Philip Crosby defined quality practice as meeting the requirements of the customer. He applied this practice to business and manufacturing, but it is equally important for a medical laboratory. The medical laboratory needs to know who its clients are, and understand clients’ needs and requirements.
Medical laboratories have a range of customers including patients, physicians, public health agencies and the community.
It is the responsibility of the laboratory director to ensure that the customers’ needs are met, and that there is customer satisfaction. The quality manager is responsible for measuring the degree of customer satisfaction, using surveys, indicators and audits to take preventive and corrective action. All laboratory staff must understand the importance of customer satisfaction. Laboratory personnel must always interact with customers in a way that is appropriate, providing needed information, and being courteous.
Seeking customer satisfaction requires the following:
Commitment Customer satisfaction is a requirement of several international standards for laboratory quality, but some laboratory staff might consider it secondary to technical competency. Because of the importance of customer satisfaction in a quality system, all staff must be strongly committed to the process.
Planning Monitoring takes time and planning to be done properly. Appropriate monitoring tools need to be developed prior to gathering information. Poor planning results in inadequate information and often leads to uninterpretable information.
Knowledge Creation of useful monitoring tools requires specific knowledge. If there are not people in the laboratory that have that knowledge, the laboratory may consider sending staff for special training or hiring a consultant. Resources The process to monitoring does not have to be heavily resourced, but it does take time. Some of that time can be saved by having access to calculators, computers and the internet.