Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the techniques and methodologies that companies use to handle their customer relationships in a structured manner. Customer experience management, according to Mandic (2011), focuses on the customer and their happiness and maintains that all operations in an organization are oriented toward the customer. This essay aims to comprehend the basic elements of customer experience management, including three best practices for improving customer relations at United Healthcare, and identify the critical pieces of customer information to be gathered in the healthcare industry, as well as the methods for collecting the data.
The Key Elements in Customer Relationship Management
The key elements in customer relationship management include acquiring information from new and existing customers. The data obtained helps a business segment the customers into different groups based on the profiles of the customers based on profitability (Riyad, 2012). The segmenting allows a business to target these customers and provide advertising and products that fit the selected markets improving effectiveness in meeting the needs of high-value customers. Freitag (2002) also states that "data mining is a key element of CRM concepts" allowing firms to know customer preferences and create target groups. The other essential element of CRM is integrating technology to enhance effective coordination of service delivery. Technology enables an organization to align processes and technology systems from different departments such as accounting, marketing, sales, and field support. Technology offers CRM a platform to seamlessly customer-facing processes in a healthcare organization such as United Healthcare and other businesses. Creating a customer-centric culture and strategy is the other element in CRM by allowing different departments in an organization to collaborate to deliver the highest level of support and service to the customer.
Improving Customer Relations at United Healthcare
Keeping customers is much cost-effective and beneficial for any organization than getting new customers. The three best practices for the improvement of customer relations at United Healthcare are focusing on quality customer service, monitoring customer satisfaction, and target communication via social media and other avenues that allow customer engagement. Treating customers/patients with respect and professionally creates customer loyalty. Staying in touch with customers and customer feedback helps in improving service and builds loyalty causing higher customer retention rates (Harringtom & Voehl, 2011).
Critical Pieces of Customer Information to be Gathered
The critical pieces of customer information to be collected by United Healthcare are claims data required for healthcare analytics. Claims data include diagnosis codes, patient demographics, cost of service and dates of service allowing the organization to understand patient concerns and the cost of treatment. Electronic health record data includes the care provision process, provider views on the patient, and volunteered patient information not captured in diagnosis (Bresnick, 2017). Social and community health determinants are other data that United Healthcare collects and include average incomes, food choices, language proficiency, education level, unemployment rates, and violence rates. Patient-generated health is information provided by patients when filling forms, surveys, giving feedback, and from wearable devices. The fifth type of data collected by United Healthcare is prescription and medication adherence data, allowing providers to understand when patients stop taking medication that could result in chronic illness (Bresnick, 2017).
Data Collection Plan at United Healthcare
The data and information ensure adequate health care strategies are developed that align with the needs of the population. The data collected also ensures the patients receive specialized treatment and improves decision-making for skilled care for the patients. According to Raghupathi & Raghupathi (2014), data on patients and the population help detect diseases at earlier stages and treated quickly and efficiently, detect health fraud more efficiently, and manage the specific population and individual health. Patient data also help health providers stay ahead of chronic diseases, identify symptoms' similarities.
Five Survey Questions for Evaluating Patient's Experience at United Healthcare and Justification
1. Was it easy to schedule an appointment with United Healthcare?
Justification: Accessible is paramount in healthcare and determines satisfaction and retention rates. Patients should not struggle to get an appointment to a healthcare facility.
2. Approximately how long did you wait before being seen by a care provider?
Justification: Healthcare facilities must not keep patients waiting, and this question aids in understanding the accessibility ease for patients, which has a direct bearing on satisfaction.
3. Does the cleanliness and appearance of United Healthcare satisfy you?
Justification: Cleanliness in healthcare is a crucial indicator of quality and must be a priority for United Healthcare.
4. What rating can you give to the overall care received?
Justification: Care is the primary focus, and understanding how the patient perceives the overall care allows for improvement of areas include provider attitude, respect, trustworthiness, and knowledge. This question and efforts also determine the quality of care are taken to improve if ratings are consistently low.
5. How likely can you recommend United Healthcare to a family member or a friend?
Justification: Patient referrals reflect patient trust, satisfaction, and loyalty to the facility. Positive responses show United Healthcare meets or exceeds patient satisfaction in healthcare provision.
Data collection plan at United Healthcare will entail patient filling information as they receive care, collecting and entering data in patient health records as they are treated, and collecting claims data from insurance companies. Feedback surveys will be undertaken when patients are discharged on paper and online platforms. Patient interviews will be recorded as treatment is undertaken and transferred to electronic management records for analysis. United Healthcare will also conduct healthcare surveys in the community to gain an understanding of demographics and population needs. Secondary sources of data included census results, and periodic reports will also be used as sources of data.
References
Bresnik, J. (008, 2017). Which Healthcare Data is Important for Population Health Management? Health IT Analytics.
Freitag, S. (2002). Increasing Customer Loyalty via Mobile Customer Relationship Management. diplom. de.
Harrington, H. J., & Voehl, F. (2011). The Organizational Alignment Handbook: A Catalyst for Performance Acceleration. CRC Press.
Mandic, M. (2011). Important elements in customer relationship management. International Journal of Management Cases, 13(3), 347-351.
Raghupathi, W., & Raghupathi, V. (2014). Big data analytics in healthcare: promise and potential. Health information science and systems, 2(1), 3.
Riyad, E. (2012). Yu, L. (2001). Successful customer relationship management programs and technologies: Issues and trends. Igi Global.
