'Customerizing' in the new millennium

Many might challenge the concept of customerizing in the health care systems in the face of financial losses caused by the Balanced Budget Act. But, now more than ever, we should be obsessed with the customer and work relentlessly to understand that the procedure is not the end goal. The experience around that procedure will bond the patient to us, or create a consumer who is left with anger. The secret to success, according to Seybold (1998), is "It's the customer, stupid!" (pp. xvi). She also notes that all we have to do is to focus on making it easier for the customer to work with us. We should pick our customers' brains, visit them, learn what they care about, and make it easier for them to work with us. We can't afford not to.$