Findings from the latest Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) by the Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES) released two weeks ago found that satisfaction with doctors, nurses and admin staff has a significant impact on patients’ perceived quality of healthcare. ISES Director Caroline Lim said that patient satisfaction also boosts employees’ morale: “When organisations are unable to cope with increased demands and heightened customer expectations, customers are not the only ones who will be dissatisfied. Employees of such organisations are likely to be stressed and this unhappiness may be passed on to customers, creating a negative downward spiral for both employees and customers.”

Meanwhile, ISES Academic Director and [Assistant Professor of Marketing (Practice)] Marcus Lee suggested that polyclinics pay closer attention to specific needs of different patient groups: “Polyclinics should think about the reasons their patients visit them, group them into different segments – such as preventive care versus chronic care versus acute care – and then align and simplify their workflow to meet the central needs of each segment of users.”