Improving the Customer Experience: Physician Feedback Program for Clinical Laboratories

Brian R Jackson; David Novis; Suzanne Coulter; Suzanne Dintzis; Barbara J Blond; Richard Brown

doi:10.5858/arpa.2023-0064-CP

Improving the Customer Experience: Physician Feedback Program for Clinical Laboratories

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2023 Sep 11. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2023-0064-CP. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Brian R Jackson^{1

2}, David Novis³, Suzanne Coulter⁴, Suzanne Dintzis⁵, Barbara J Blond⁴, Richard Brown^{6

7}

Affiliations

¹ From the Department of Pathology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City (Jackson).
² ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, Utah (Jackson).
³ Novis Consulting LLC, Lee, New Hampshire (Novis).
⁴ The Department of Biostatistics, College of American Pathologists, Northfield, Illinois (Coulter, Blond).
⁵ The Department of Pathology, University of Washington, Seattle (Dintzis).
⁶ The Department of Pathology, Memorial Hermann Medical Center, Houston, Texas (Brown).
⁷ The Department of Pathology, University of Houston, Texas (Brown).

PMID: 37694955
DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2023-0064-CP

Abstract

Context.—: Clinician feedback is an important source of information for laboratory quality improvement programs.

Objective.—: To pilot a program for nearly real-time solicitation and analysis of physician feedback regarding clinical laboratory services.

Design.—: Laboratories distributed either electronic or paper survey forms to physicians. Results were tabulated by College of American Pathologists staff. Free-text comments were shared promptly with the participating laboratories to facilitate follow-up.

Results.—: Forty-seven clinical laboratories participated in the study and submitted results for 987 physician surveys, including both paper and electronic forms. Of 694 responses submitted electronically within the study period, 460 (66.3%) included at least 1 free-text entry, for a total of 951 free-text comments.

Conclusions.—: Point-of-service solicitation of physician feedback regarding clinical laboratory services is feasible and can provide a substantial quantity of potentially useful information regarding laboratory performance from the customer perspective.