Most patients see the healthcare industry as comprised of doctors, nurses, and surgical teams because these are the people with whom they have the most contact. However, while they rarely see support staff such as administrative assistants, lab technicians, medical assistants, cooks, and janitors, the people in these roles help ensure a hospital visit will result in a positive outcome.
Of the nearly 9.8 million employees in the healthcare industry, 5.3 million—about 54%, are support staff. They all help ensure patients receive the care they need in a safe, clean environment, whether they work in a large hospital or a small neighborhood clinic.
An important aspect of patients’ experience when they visit or work with a healthcare facility is customer service. Many people find visiting a hospital or clinic stressful. So, healthcare staff must understand the importance of customer service so they can ease patients’ fears and lower their anxiety levels.
Many patients do not feel they receive good service. In fact, the healthcare industry has one of the worst reputations when it comes to customer experience. However, this may be changing for the better because 49% of healthcare provider executives say improving customer experience is one of their top strategic priorities for the next five years.
The best way to improve customer service is to hire employees who understand why it is important and are committed to delivering top patient support. Organizations must also prioritize customer service training in their employee development programs.
To address these challenges, healthcare providers, from large hospitals to small medical practices, are implementing industry-leading pre-employment testing solutions like the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM. This helps their hiring teams instantly identify candidates who can deliver superior customer service and enables training leaders to include customer service in employee development programs. These are some ways healthcare providers use skills testing to improve customer satisfaction.
Use Pre-Employment Testing to Hire the Right People
The first step toward improving customer service in healthcare entities is the same as it is for other industries. Hire the right people. When HR leaders post job openings for their healthcare institution or practice, they often receive hundreds of responses. Reviewing all the resumes and applications to determine which candidates are best qualified is time-consuming and counterproductive. Instead of spending hours scrutinizing resumes, HR teams can use skills test results to identify top candidates and screen out unqualified applicants.
Healthcare organizations choose the eSkill Talent Assessment PlatformTM as their pre-employment testing solution because they gain access to a library of hundreds of validated job- and subject-based skills tests. They can use pre-prepared skills tests as-is or create customized pre-employment tests that perfectly match each job vacancy.
For instance, if an HR team is hiring Accounts Receivable Representatives, they can build an assessment using questions from the Customer Service, Medical Billing, Medical Terminology, and HIPAA—Health Insurance skills tests.
When applicants have completed and submitted their skills tests, recruiters can rank results by score and review answers to individual questions to gain maximum insight into top candidates’ abilities.
How Skills Testing Improves Employee Development
Hiring the right people is an excellent first step toward improving patient outcomes, but the value of skills testing does not stop there. Once you have made a job offer, you can use pre-employment tests to expedite onboarding and supercharge employment development efforts.
By using skills testing results as a benchmark, you can easily see which material a new hire already knows and understands. This allows you to create personalized onboarding processes that skip topics and areas new hires have mastered and focus on areas where they need help.
Pre-employment test results can also be used to guide employment development efforts. When you ask employees to complete skills tests, you can identify their strengths and weaknesses, develop personalized training programs that focus on areas where they need help, and evaluate their progress.
Training and employee development are most effective when they are tailored to each employee’s needs. When learning professionals follow this strategy, it strengthens their entire workforce, which ultimately leads to improved patient satisfaction and healthcare outcomes.
Skills Tests and Employee Turnover
One of the most common complaints in the healthcare industry is high turnover in their facilities. High turnover hurts overall productivity and lowers staff morale. Both can result in a decline in positive healthcare outcomes and negatively impact patient experience and satisfaction.
Skills testing helps healthcare entities lower turnover rates by making better hiring decisions. HR teams can quickly identify the best candidates with the abilities and experience to do a job. They can also confirm they are a good fit for the corporate culture and verify they understand the importance of customer service. This increases the likelihood that they will have a long successful tenure at their institution.
Do you want to learn how pre-employment testing can help you hire employees who are committed to offering excellent customer service? Contact us to request a demo.