N A M E – S U B H A N J A L I

R O Y

C O L L E G E –

D I N A B A N D H U

A N D R E W S I N S T I T U T E

O F T E C H N O L O G Y

A N D M A N A G E M E N T

S E M E S T E R – 6 T H

[ P i c k t h e d a t e ]

A STUDY ON CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT

DECLARATION I hereby declare that the project work entitled “THE STUDY ON CUSTOMER

CARE DEPARTMENT) for 3 months (1st Jan – 1st April) at COLUMBIA ASIA

HOSPITAL.

This project work is submitted for the partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of BACHELOR DEGREE IN

HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT (BHM) from DINABANDHU ANDREWS

INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, with the collaboration

of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), West

Bengal.

The results embodied in this project have not been submitted to any other

university/institute for award of any degree or diploma certificate

---------------------------

SIGNATURE

SUBHANJALI ROY

REGISTRATION NO. : 151541310030

HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT

DAITM

KOLKATA, WESTBENGAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Every project big or small becomes successful largely due to the effort of a

group of wonderful people who have always given their valuable advice

and lent a helping hand towards me. I sincerely appreciate the inspiration;

support and guidance of all those people who have been instrumental in

making this project a success.

SUBHANJALI ROY, the student of Dinabandhu Andrews Institute of

Technology and Management, I am extremely grateful to Columbia Asia

Hospital and my college for the confidence bestowed in me and entrusting

my project with special reference to the respective hospital.

A special gratitude I give to our training manager Ms. Puja Roy, customer

care manager Mrs. Sumana Kundu Sil, the human resource (HR) manager

Mr. Biswajeet Das, CNS Mrs. Arpita Mondal, whose contribution in

stimulating suggestions and encouragement helped me to coordinate my

project.

I express my gratitude to our college principal and our HOD Mr. Surajit Das,

Mrs. Moumita Akuli Roy, Mr. Abhijeet Sinha and Mrs. Paramita Ghosh for

arranging the summer training in good schedule.

I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of

the staff of Columbia Asia Hospital, who gave me the permission to use all

required equipment and the necessary materials to complete the task.

Last but not the least I place a deep sense of gratitude to my family

members and my friends who have been constant source of inspiration

during the preparation of the project work.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

My objective was to study closely the functions and

workflow of the organizations and analyze the various

information that a well organized department can

generate, thereby optimally utilizing the information for

scoring high in the performance of Health Care Delivery,

Quality Review and Epidemiology.

The details of the project conducted are elaborately

discussed in the following pages of the project report.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SERIAL NO.

TOPIC

1 INTRODUCTION

2 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

3 HOSPITAL PROFILE

4 REVIEW ON LITERATURE

5 SPECIALISED DEPARTMENT : CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT

6 METHODOLOGY

7 DATA ANALYSIS

8 PROBLEMS

9 FINDINGS

10 CONCLUSION

11 BIBLIIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Columbia Asia is an international healthcare group operating a chain of modern hospitals across Asia. Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd.is one of the first healthcare companies to enter India through 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) route. The Columbia Asia Group is owned by more than 150 private equity companies, fund management organizations and individual investors.

Columbia Asia hospitals are clean, efficient, customer centric, affordable and accessible. The innovative design of the hospitals, from their manageable size to their advanced technology, is focused on creating positive experience for patients.

The first hospital in India commenced operations in 2005 in Hebbal – Bangalore and currently Columbia Asia operates twelve facilities. The group has presence in Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Mysore, Kolkata, Guru Gram, Ghaziabad, Patiala and Pune.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY To study details about product and services

offered.

To study the various Departments of the

hospital.

To study the workflow and function of the

departments.

To know the procedures followed in the

departments.

To gather information about the

responsibilities of the personnel of the

departments of the hospital.

To know how the departments help the

hospital.

To find drawbacks (if any) of the

department.

To suggest a few recommendations for

existing problems, if any.

HOSPITAL PROFILE

"Columbia Asia Hospital – Salt Lake, a multi-specialty facility is located in the up market Salt Lake locality of Kolkata. It commenced operations from July 2008 and in a short period has become the preferred healthcare provider for people from Eastern India and is considered as one of the best hospitals in Kolkata. The 90-bedded hospital is well equipped with Operating Theatres, Advanced Digital Catheterization lab, Dialysis Centre, 24x7 Services like Laboratory, Radiology, and Pharmacy & Emergency Services with round the clock reporting facility, NICU facility, Telemedicine and Tele-radiology facilities & facility for Chemotherapy. The people of

Kolkata receive the best possible medical care by qualified consultants trained in India and abroad.

Columbia Asia Hospital – Salt Lake aims to be a one-stop destination for all your health care needs. It offers a comprehensive spectrum of clinical services including Dermatology, ENT, General Surgery, Haematology, Internal Medicine, Interventional Cardiology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Gastroenterology, Geriatric Medicine (Senior Citizen’s Care), Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Psychiatry & Psychology & Paediatrics & Paediatric Surgery, Rheumatology, Spine Surgery, Urology (laser Surgery). The hospital has international standard infrastructure and follows globally benchmarked standards of medical, nursing and operating protocols. The facility is rapidly becoming the preferred healthcare destination for International Patients."

THE COLUMBIA ASIA

ADVANTAGE

Healthcare services, which offer

exceptional value targeting the growing middle income groups of India.

Internationally benchmarked standard protocols and evidence based medical practice.

International standards of infection control and hygiene.

A contemporary and patient friendly design that allows easy access to all departments.

High level of expertise available through highly trained professionals.

CME (Continuing Medical Education) training for our nurses and doctors.

Personalized service through trained customer care personnel.

THE COLUMBIA ASIA

DIFFERENCE Plasma TVs to aid the queuing system and

scheduling.

Unique proprietary software with electronic medical record system.

Centralized medical gas systems.

Operating Theatres designed to conform to ASHRA (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning) standards.

Spacious ICU and HDU.

Delivery suites.

Day care center.

State-of-the-art medical equipment and international standard infrastructure.

SERVICES PROVIDED

24-HOUR SERVICES

Emergency room Laboratory Pharmacy Radiology Ambulance Operation theatre Intensive Care Unit Labour and delivery suite

SPECIAL CLINICS

Snoring and sleep APNEA clinic Dermatology & Cosmetic Dermatology clinic Spine clinic

PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE

Comprehensive health check - below 30

Comprehensive health check - between 30 to 40 years

Comprehensive health check - above 40 years Comprehensive Health Check - Senior Citizens Hypertension screening Cancer screening

OTHER SERVICES

Audiology Physiotherapy

Features and FACILITIES

24-hour Emergency Room 24-hour Laboratory Services 24-hour Pharmacy 24-hour Radiology 5 Operating Rooms 100 Bedded Inpatient facility Ambulatory Services Dedicated Labor and Delivery Suites Dialysis Center Endoscopy Suite Intensive Care Unit In- house Columbia Café

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Nutrition and Dietetics

Outpatient Specialist Clinics Physiotherapy Preventive Health Screening Home Collection of Blood Samples Home Physiotherapy

O LABORATORY

Histopathology Cytology Biochemistry Microbiology Clinical pathology

O DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING

CT Scan Conventional radiology Picture archival communication system MRI Teleradiology Digitized radiography Ultrasound & colour Doppler Echocardiography Digitized mammography

O OPERATING THEATRE

Central sterile services department Major & minor surgery

O AMBULATORY & DAYCARE

Daycares surgery Endoscopy Dialysis

O CAFETERIA

Outpatient dining Inpatient dining

O NURSING UNITS

Intensive care Isolation care Labor and delivery suite Neonatal intensive care Nursery Paediatrics

O PATIENT ACCOMODATION

Rooms (Single/Superior/Double & Five Bed) Intensive Care Unit High dependency unit

O MULTIDISCIPLINE SPECIALIST CLINICS

8am to 8pm Outpatient clinics

SPECIALTIES Anesthesiology

Cardiology

Clinical Psychology

Dermatology

Endocrinology

ENT

Gastroenterology

General Surgery

Internal Medicine

Maxillo- Facial Surgery

Medical Oncology

Minimally Invasive (Laparoscopy) Surgery

Nephrology

Neurology

Neurosurgery

Obstetrics & Gynecology

Ophthalmology

Orthopedic Surgery

Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery

Pediatric

Pediatric Surgery

Pulmonology (Chest Medicine)

Psychiatry

Renal Transplant

Surgical Oncology

Urology

Vascular Surgery

ORGANISATIONAL

CHART

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

GENERAL MANAGER

OPERATIONAL MANAGER

CUSTOMER CARE MANAGER

CUSTOMER CARE

EXECUTIVE/SUPERVISOR

CUSTOMER CARE ASSISTANT

Mission:

"To deliver the best clinical outcomes in the most effective, efficient and caring

environment"

Vision:

"We have a passion for making people better"

REVIEW ON LITERATURE

Customer care is the science and art of

presenting a good image of an

organisation to the public. It uses various

principles and methods to deal with the

public.

This department has the

responsibility to provide effective and

efficient services to patients and

companions in the outpatient and

inpatient areas. CCA (customer care

assistant) provides prompt, courteous and

knowledgeable response to all customers’

enquiries and ensures patients are made

comfortable throughout their stay in the

hospital.

SPECIALISED DEPARTMENT-

CUSTOMER CARE DEPARTMENT

FUNCTIONS

Provides general information on services

offered by the hospital.

Admissions from outpatient department and

emergency department.

Getting the consent formed signed by the

inpatient relatives.

Provides information on top up deposits to

customers and follows up and ensures that

deposits are collected.

Visits patient rooms on daily basis.

Controls cost and expenditure related to

department stationery, telephone usage as

well as minimizes wastage of electricity and

water.

Handles all external and internal incoming

calls across the hospital.

Provides general information on services

offered by the hospital.

Admissions from outpatient department and

emergency department.

Getting the consent formed signed by the

inpatient relatives.

Provides information on top up deposits to

customers and follows up and ensures that

deposits are collected.

Visits patient rooms on daily basis.

Telephonic appointments for consultations

are taken.

Takes messages for staffs and consultants.

OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT

(OPD)

OPD is a department in a hospital made especially

for outpatients, which is primarily designed to

enable consultants and members of their teams

to see outpatients at consultant clinics. The

outdoor of the Columbia Asia hospital is best in

Eastern India

OUTDOOR TIME- 8am to 8pm.

TYPE OF PATIENT-

Casual patient

Emergency patient

General check up

Refer by doctor.

TYPES OF INDICATORS

USED IN opd

It is a method to analyze the

quality of services provided in the hospital.

This indicator provides a scope for

improvement of the quality of the services

delivered to the customers. The types of

indicators used in the OPD are-

OPD Indicator

Feedback Indicator

Admission Indicator

HOW THE OPD WORKS

Processing of appointment schedules and

consultations with respective consultants.

Preventive health checks offer different health

screens packages.

For men and women of different ages tailored

to their requirements.

ENQUIRY DESK :

Enquiry is manned by a customer care

assistant 24hrs per day and is supervised by

the customer care supervisor.

Handles all doubts, enquiries and questions

and questions concerning the services

Columbia Asia provides.

CONSOLE:

This counter is manned by a customer care

assistant under the supervision of the

customer care supervisor.

Handles internal calls (call transfer and

enquiry)and external calls(call transfer,

enquiry, scheduling appointments,

rescheduling and dissemination of

information concerning health checks and

other hospital services)

Includes health screens for corporate.

INFORMATION DESK:

Its main job is enquiry handling.

OPD DESIGN

Special attention should be given to the design of

the following areas of the department-

An area for the wheel chairs and stretchers,

away from the stream of traffic, but reachable.

Lobby for seating of patients and patient party.

Easily accessible elevators.

Doctor’s offices, rooms should be numbered.

Public areas with provision for reception and

enquiry desk or counter public telephones and

assisted STD and ISD call booth, public toilets,

water coolers, drinking fountains, cashier in

booths, cafe.

Direction signs should be throughout the

department.

Doors between emergency services and the

OPD and medical records should be available to

the staff and emergency patient during the

night shifts.

Good security

Minor operating rooms and dressing rooms.

CLINICAL FACILITIES

General Broadcasting Examination Rooms–

Minimum floor area 7.43 sq m (80sq.ft) excluding

closets and toilets should be wash basin and

counter top for writing.

Special Purpose Examination Rooms –

For eye, ENT etc.

Treatment rooms for minor procedures.

Observation rooms.

Nurse’s station with work counter locked

storage for drugs.

Clean store for sterile supplies.

Wheelchair storage supplies.

PROBLEMS IN OPD

One of the common problems in

OPD is long waiting time for the patients.

This is annoying for patients and bad public

relations for hospital.

DELAY OCCURS IN-

Registration, especially for first time patients.

Preparation of medical record.

Collection and payment of fees at various patients-

To see consultant

To have investigations done

To buy medicine at the pharmacy.

All system discussed should be improved

through automation human factor is always present in

hospital

HOW THE DIAGNOSTIC REPORTS OF

AN OUTPATIENT IS DISPATCHED

First of all we have to check for the paid bills.

In case the bill is not available, we have to

confirm with the finance if payment has been

made or not.

If payment is not made we have to direct the

patient to the cash counter for billing.

Then we have to direct the patient to the

report dispatch counter.

At last the report is handed over to the

respective person after confirming that the

payment is cleared.

METHODOLOGY

There are two types of tools for collecting

data-

PRIMARY DATA-

Primary data are those which are collected

for a specific purpose from the field of

enquiry and hence are original in nature.

E.g.- Questionnaire.

SECONDARY DATA-

Secondary data are such numerical

information which has previously been

collected by some agency or individual for

some specific purpose but are now being

used by someone else for some different

purpose.

I have used primary data for this project.

DATA ANALYSIS

ATTITUDE OF THE STAFF

TOWARDS THE CUSTOMER

ATTITUDES OF THE STAFF SATISFACTION LEVEL

Meet Expectation 85

DID NOT Meet Expectation 35

SATISFACTION LEVEL

Meet Expectations

Did Not Meet Expectations

HOW WAS THE CUSTOMER CARE

SERVICE

CUSTOMER CARE SERVICE SATISFACTION LEVEL

EXCELLENT 90

GOOD 70

POOR 20

SATISFACTION LEVEL

EXCELLENT

GOOD

POOR

HOW WAS THE DOCTOR SERVICES

DOCTOR SERVICES SATISFACTION LEVEL

Doctor’s Explanation 90

Doctor’s Personal Manner 70

SATISFACTION LEVEL

Doctor's Explanation

Doctor's Personal Manner

PROBLEM IDENTIFICATIONS

Seating arrangement is inadequate.

Drinking water is not adequate.

Waiting areas as well as the lifts are

inadequate.

Inter departmental communication

gap.

Patients facing problems in locating

the taps.

Quality of water is not up to the mark.

Investigation charges are very high.

Patient toilets are very dirty.

Charges of foods in cafeteria are very

high.

Arrival time of the doctors is not

punctual.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Need to improve the bed capacity.

Communication should be improve

between the inter departments.

Space need to be enlarged.

Investigation charges should be

moderate.

Maintaining of the machines with

proper guidelines by the experts.

Allocation of sufficient staffs in

necessary departments.

Cleaning of the patient toilets.

Maintaining the file for future use.

It should be checked.

FINDINGS

RECEPTION COUNTER-

Receptionists are getting distracted, they are not

able to listen patient problems and moreover,

they are not providing clear information to the

patients.

Patients are not getting hospital map and

information brochures.

Good numbers of patients are not satisfied with

overall service of the receptionist.

Overall service given by the security staff is

good.

FINDINGS FROM PATIENTS

COMMENTS AND

OBSERVATIONS-

Some of the patient who is new to the place

complained that they are not being properly guided

to the various points where they need to go.

Patients had to wait too much in the cash counter

for making payments.

CONCLUSION

Previously I have mentioned that I have my training in

Columbia Asia Hospital. The time duration of my training

was 3months. In this period I was working as a trainee of

Customer Care Department, Nursing Department, Medical

Record Department and Human Resource Department.

On the training period I

was also a part of that organisation and I can say it

firmly that every staff of the hospital is very sincere

and they really give their 100% to provide a better

service to the patient. Lastly I would like to say that

the experience of my training is great and that 3

months was my best for my future success.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS-

Hospitals Planning & Facilities- GD Kunders.

Hospital Administration & Planning- BM

Shakherkar.

Human Resource Management- K Aswathappa.

WEBSITE-

www.columbiaasia.com

www.goggle.com