Use of consumer feedback in planned change and evaluation activities

Consumer feedback about services can be used to reward staff, stimulate improved performance, and make the service organization more responsive to consumer needs. Carefully collected consumer feedback can be used in a process of organizational planned change involving a cycle of problem perception and documentation, followed by the choice, implementation, and evaluation of solutions to these problems. Presently, consumer feedback is often poorly collected or inadequately utilized. Through preparation of concrete items related to manipulable aspects of service delivery, use of precoded response categories for items, and use of computers for data analysis, high quality consumer feedback can be obtained and used to pinpoint service delivery problems, evaluate solutions to problems, and evaluate the impact of other service changes and innovations.