

In some respects, standards are similar to "service guarantees"-a concept that frightens many health care employees because they do not trust that the systems they need to meet "guarantees" are in place. These questions were selected because they measure processes of care that patients and members use to define a "quality experience." However, that does not mean it will be easy to translate the questions into standards that your staff can measure and evaluate. The InterventionĬustomer service standards are already embedded in many of the CAHPS survey questions.
#Agency policies impact client services professional
That is a challenge in health care systems that are often deeply grounded in a culture of professional autonomy. Setting standards is also fundamentally about being accountable to high standards of service on a daily basis. It can be challenging to describe what good and excellent service look like.

One barrier is that setting standards takes time, although experts in this area argue that the absence of standards necessitates spending time on far more unpleasant activities, such as responding to complaints and managing unsatisfactory staff behavior.Īnother problem with developing standards is that some of the behaviors are hard to describe. However, while most of the accrediting organizations require such standards in their regulations, most health care organizations do not have a well-defined process for developing effective standards.
