Anonymous vs. Onymous Surveys For Senior and Long-Term Care

Onymous: Adj: “Bearing a name.”


Many Senior and Long-term care companies believe that for customer satisfaction interviews to be effective, they need to be done anonymously. Their logic is based on that idea that anonymity is the only way to provide an avenue where people can provide objective feedback about what they really think and feel without fear of retribution or punishment. This may work in some industries, but as you know, Senior and Long-term care is not like The Gap, it isn't like a Lexus dealership, and it is not like a restaurant. In fact, it is not like any other industry.


With 14 years experience providing services exclusively to Senior and Long-term care companies, we have found that not only do people give very candid feedback when providing their name in the survey, but they actually PREFER including their name with feedback. We give each resident and family member we interview the very clear, specific option of being anonymous. And after interviewing tens of thousands of individuals, ninety-eight percent choose willingly to provide their name to the interview, or to give their opinion "onymously".


Why are they so eager to attach their name to their feedback? There are several reasons:

1. The long-term care of the individual being interviewed, or that of their loved one, is one of the most important things they have ever dealt with in their lives. With something that important, they WANT to provide insight; they want their voice identified. 
2. Enabling them to attach their name allows individual needs to be met. For example, if a resident has specific dietary needs following a needed surgery, attaching their name allows not only the patient specific care, but the chance for the resident to feel like they are being cared for as an individual. This increases loyalty, and fosters a better image in the community.
3. It provides a forum of dialog for the family and/or resident—which can diffuse any potential issues from arising, instead of allowing them to fester and become serious problems or complaints. It is far better to hear the issue out in the open directly from the resident or family than from an ombudsman or attorney. Open communication is always best.
4. It allows them to feel heard. The most frequent comment we receive is, “Thank you for giving me a chance to have a voice here.”

These reasons provide resident-side benefits to the feedback not being anonymous. There are also several facility-side benefits to onymous feedback:

1. It allows the administration to address any issues far more quickly and effectively. Every so often, our interviews uncover an isolated complaint within the 2% of those preferring to be anonymous. We send the reports to the administrator, who will inevitably turn to us and ask, “How can I correct this, if I don’t know who it is?” Having a specific complaint without a name attached slows down the correction of the issue, whereas having a name attached allows for immediate correction to the care provided.
2. It allows the facility to truly give individual-based care. The current movement in Skilled Nursing is to go through a culture change in the direction of “individual based care” or “resident based care.” When you are looking at a report with names of individuals attached, individual or resident-based care really can begin.

We provide high quality insight to health-care companies into all aspects of their care their patient or resident experience. Through "onymous" feedback, we give these Long-term and Senior Care companies a pure form of feedback and a direct communication link back to the important individuals they serve.


For more information on how to set up interviews for your facility, contact one of our customer satisfaction specialists at Pinnacle Quality Insight, at (801) 293-0700.


--Craig Christiansen
www.pinnacleqi.com

Phone vs Mailer Surveys

Most every company realizes they have to survey their customers. Just last night I bought a few things at Radio Shack, and after ringing up my purchases the clerk said, “And if you want to save an additional $10 on your next purchase, just go online and fill out this survey on how we’re doing”. He circled the web address, and slid the receipt across the counter to me.

I get this type of survey request all the time. “For an additional 15% off your next visit, fill out this survey.” I typically get them when I’m just checking out, either on the back of the receipt or a separate piece of paper altogether. They all have basically the same premise: Go online, fill out a survey, and next time receive a discount. I’ve received them from auto-repair shops, hair stylists, restaurants, and as of last night, an electronics store. I think in principle, it’s sound: offer an incentive to fill out a survey, and make it ultra-convenient. But there’s only one problem:

I’ve never done one.

I’m tightening my budget like the next person, looking for good deals where I can find them, yet these receipts still sit crumbled next to my keys when I empty out my pockets at the end of the night. So even though I’m online, or have close access to the internet most of my working day, I’ve never filled out a single online survey. I’m almost ashamed at the fact. In truth, I can only remember going through one survey over the past 3 years—and it was over the phone about a car buying experience I’d had. It was done by a third party, and it took about 10 minutes. The surveyor was polite, friendly, and was clear he was calling on behalf of the dealership—who was using the surveys as a way to improve their service. He called while I was shopping at the grocery store, and once he had me on the line, I thought, “Why not?” and went through the survey. Oddly enough, it required more effort, and probably more time to go through a survey over the phone. But I was much more eager to do so than I have been to complete any online or written survey.

Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Procrastination: As human beings, we tend to procrastinate things we don’t HAVE to do. I don’t have any sort of natural deadline to do an online survey—just some time prior to my next visit…so what happens? I put it off. A phone survey is right now. There they are, on the phone, and it’ll only take a few minutes. It’s much easier to just think, “why not?” than it is to overcome the natural tendency to procrastinate.
2. It’s easier to speak your mind than to write it: It’s both mentally and physically easier to talk to someone about your opinion than it is to write it out. Oral surveys can produce much more data, and a free-flow of thought that written surveys won’t produce, even if you ask them the same question. When presented with an open field for feedback, people often look at it with the same anxiety they did with essay questions in school—wondering if they are going to say it perfectly, hoping they don’t make any mistakes. Furthermore, when dealing with Home Care patients, many times you are dealing with individuals with physical limitations such as joint pain or vision loss. Speaking bypasses these difficulties.
3. More Personable: Phone surveys convey a personable message about your company, which shows how service oriented you are. So much so, that you are reaching out to THEM—you value their opinion enough to take the effort to contact them. A written survey feels like a form letter and places the responsibility on them. I frequently tell clients, “The more impersonal the medium, the more impersonal the feedback.” If you distance yourself from your customers through the medium, you will get feedback that is also quite distant from what they are really thinking and feeling. If your favorite relative were to contact you, would you prefer they called you or sent you a form letter? Treat your patients in a personable nature and they will be loyal to you.
4. Easier Clarification: Being on the phone makes it easier to understand what really matters to the respondent. For example, if an area receives a low score, a phone interviewer can ask for clarification or an elaboration of the score. Through additional qualitative feedback, the respondent can clearly explain how important that particular area is. Mailer surveys typically don’t get as much qualitative feedback, and therefore each score is neutral in importance to the customer. So conceivably, you could get low scores in an area that really doesn’t matter much to the respondent.
5. The desire to help others have a better experience outweighs the prospect of gain: The surveyor I spoke with made his intentions quite clear. He was contracted by the company in question to see what could be done to improve their service. I felt a sense of duty, like I was helping other customers—as if by filling out this survey, it would help the next person have a much more pleasant experience. I don’t remember any incentive other than simply helping the dealership do things better, and thereby helping the next person have a better experience. This is exactly why if you ask someone to help you move as a favor, they will break their back helping you lug your heavy furniture around awkward corners. However, if you offer them money, they’ll weigh the prospect of giving up their Saturday for a few bucks.

To sum up, surveying by phone is valuable for increasing the loyalty of your patients and their families. It furthers your image as a service-oriented agency who cares about providing the optimal care. In addition, it provides valuable insight into how you can improve your agency to the point that you become, and remain, the only logical choice for homecare in your market.

For information on how you can have phone surveys done for your senior care or long-term care company, call Pinnacle Quality Insight at (801) 293-0700 and speak with one of our survey consultants.

--Craig Christiansen

www.pinnacleqi.com