Improving ambulatory care through better listening

The ambulatory care setting provides a unique opportunity to listen to the voice of the customer. Short contact time between provider and patient creates the major challenge. A desire to "move people through the process" often leads patients to complain about the lack of communication and personalization during an ambulatory visit. This article describes how this can be challenged by listening more thoroughly to the patients. Three critical listening points are described. The major tools for gathering customer feedback and a model for integrating the voice of the customer with the voice of the process are then reviewed.