Why Customer Service Is Important In Healthcare

Great Careers Start Here
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Whether you work in retail, hospitality, or the service industry, customer service skills are critical to success. But did you know those very same skills that might earn you tips and a minimum wage paycheck can also be transferred to healthcare? Skills like patience and problem solving, and pleasantness under pressure, can all be transferred to patient care. Find out how the skills you already possess might help you transfer to a rewarding career in healthcare.

What Is Customer Service in Healthcare?

If you work in retail, you already understand that quality customer service means clear communication, paying attention to the customer, and answering any questions they have. Now consider the patient to be your “customer.” You create positive patient experiences through compassionate communication, respect, and support at every touchpoint. Just like you once listened to customer concerns, you now listen to patient concerns, explaining care clearly and making sure patients feel valued and understood. Strong patient service builds trust, improves satisfaction, and supports better overall health outcomes.

Customer Greeting Skills for Patients

Whether you aspire to become a Nurse, work as a Medical Assistant, or in some form of healthcare administration, your customer service skills—now turned patient care skills—set the tone for an office visit, medical emergency, and everything in-between. You may be the first person that a patient or family member interacts with. How you engage with them can put them at ease and make them feel like they’re in good hands or make them feel like it’s time to find another doctor’s office or healthcare facility. A friendly greeting and an empathetic conversation can calm patient anxiety and prepare them for next steps. Your attentiveness also shows them that at your facility, staff care about their patients, and they can expect the same attentiveness from whomever they interact with.

Transfer Interpersonal Skills to Patient Care to Improve Outcomes

Everything you’ve learned about relating to the public can be brought into the healthcare industry. Your patient care skills ensure your patients feel heard, respected, and supported throughout their care. Interpersonal skills, like communication, compassion, empathy, and teamwork, foster positive patient interactions and better adherence to treatments. Your ability to provide professional care with empathy and understanding can actually improve patient outcomes. The better you interact with your patients, the better they’ll feel and heal.

Your Attention to Detail Skills Builds Trust and Loyalty

Just as attention to details gets customers to come back to a business over and over again, performing your healthcare job with care can improve the patient experience and reputation of your medical office or facility. You already know attention to detail reduces mistakes—and this is critical in medicine—but it also makes patients feel safer. Good customer service builds loyalty and repeat visits from your patients and may lead them to refer other patients to you.

Other Customer Service Skills to Transfer to Patient Care

  • Active listening – understanding patient concerns and accurately capturing their needs
  • Patience – managing stressful or time-consuming interactions calmly and respectfully
  • Problem-solving – addressing issues quickly, whether with appointments, treatment questions, or paperwork
  • Professionalism – maintaining a respectful, supportive attitude in every patient interaction
  • Empathy – showing compassion and sensitivity to patients’ emotions and situations
  • Clear communication – explaining procedures, instructions, or billing in simple, patient-friendly terms

How to Improve Customer Service in Your Healthcare Facility

So you understand how important good customer service is in healthcare, but how do you make sure it’s a top priority at your facility? There are many ways; here are just a few:

  • Streamline patient scheduling and check-in to help reduce wait times. Many facilities have online registration. Does yours?
  • Ensure all patient-facing staff members wear nametags. Being able to match a name to a face is important and can help you build stronger rapport with patients.
  • Always prioritize patient comfort by maintaining clean, welcoming spaces with small amenities like reading materials and drinking water.
  • Encourage teamwork so all departments coordinate to provide the best patient care possible.
  • Simplify billing to make charges exactly match procedures and services and ensure all staff can explain them.
  • Seek feedback, listen to your patients, and act upon their input to identify issues and create improvements.
  • Provide multiple channels of communication. Make sure your facility’s website is updated and that your contact information is easy to find. Consider a chat bot on your website that can answer frequently asked questions, schedule appointments, and direct patients to you for more complex queries.
  • Provide follow-up communication to check in after visits, reinforce care instructions, and demonstrate your concern for the individual patient.

Do you have well-honed customer service skills? You may be able to transfer those skills to a healthcare career. Charter College offers multiple healthcare career options including many for in-demand imaging programs. Fill out the form to find out more.