" The Service Recovery Paradox "

Dear Colleagues,

Let’s discuss acts of Service Excellence. Take a moment to think about companies that have truly “WOWed” you with superior service. Think about those instances where you felt that these companies were willing to go above-and-beyond to ensure that you were happy. How did your experience make you feel? I would hope you felt valued, heard, appreciated, and respected with your interactions with the company. Now, think.. Did your experience align with the organization’s purpose? I am certain that your answer is…YES.?The service recovery paradox is a situation in which a customer thinks more highly of a company after the company has corrected a problem with their service, compared to how they would regard the company if non-faulty service had been provided. The main reason behind this thinking is that successful recovery of a faulty service increases the assurance and confidence from the customer. This theory replicates HRO principle “Commitment to Resilience” as it reflects the ability of our services to bounce back from a mistake and in these cases provide service recovery to our customers.

We know the care we provide is Top Notch! Our ability to grow and sustain is dependent on bringing the way we deliver health care full circle so that each patient’s experience is exceptional. To improve this critical driver in attracting and retaining patients, we have established the Veterans Experience Office (VEO). This new, permanent office will bring a new lens to how we analyze and designs the services we provide to Veterans.

To have a systematic approach to improving the Veteran experience our first step was realigning our patient advocates and receptionist within NF/SGVHS to the VEO office. This realignment will provide a standardized approach in tracking systematic challenges and implementing better customer interaction tools that will ensure Veterans are able to navigate the VA system more easily.

The VEO has started to work collaboratively with services/clinics to review customer service performance metrics. This activity will assist in our ability to design and implement better customer interactions tools and deliver customer service training where staff feel empowered to improve in their interactions with Veterans at all levels of the organization.

Moving forward in this direction will help us shift our customer service from being reactive to a more proactive to solve issues before they arise. Doing this will help ensure that every Veteran’s experience is aligned with our purpose, and they feel the same feeling we hope for of being valued, heard, appreciated, and respected.

DAVID ISAACKS, FACHE

Executive Health System Director

Follow the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System