Article

Brief Communication

Ann Lab Med 2014; 34(5): 380-385

Published online September 1, 2014 https://doi.org/10.3343/alm.2014.34.5.380

Copyright © Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine.

Customer Satisfaction Survey With Clinical Laboratory and Phlebotomy Services at a Tertiary Care Unit Level

Young Rae Koh, M.D.1, Shine Young Kim, M.D.1, In Suk Kim, M.D.1, Chulhun L. Chang, M.D.1, Eun Yup Lee, M.D.1, Han Chul Son, M.D.1, and Hyung Hoi Kim, M.D.1,2

Department of Laboratory Medicine1 and Biomedical Research Institute2, Pusan National University School of Medicine, Busan, Korea

Correspondence to: Hyung Hoi Kim
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Pusan National University School of Medicine, 179 Gudeok-ro, Seo-gu, Busan 602-739, Korea
Tel: +82-51-240-7414
Fax: +82-51-247-6560
E-mail: hhkim@pusan.ac.kr

Received: March 4, 2014; Revised: March 25, 2014; Accepted: July 28, 2014

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

We performed customer satisfaction surveys for physicians and nurses regarding clinical laboratory services, and for outpatients who used phlebotomy services at a tertiary care unit level to evaluate our clinical laboratory and phlebotomy services. Thus, we wish to share our experiences with the customer satisfaction survey for clinical laboratory and phlebotomy services. Board members of our laboratory designed a study procedure and study population, and developed two types of questionnaire. A satisfaction survey for clinical laboratory services was conducted with 370 physicians and 125 nurses by using an online or paper questionnaire. The satisfaction survey for phlebotomy services was performed with 347 outpatients who received phlebotomy services by using computer-aided interviews. Mean satisfaction scores of physicians and nurses was 58.1, while outpatients’ satisfaction score was 70.5. We identified several dissatisfactions with our clinical laboratory and phlebotomy services. First, physicians and nurses were most dissatisfied with the specimen collection and delivery process. Second, physicians and nurses were dissatisfied with phlebotomy services. Third, molecular genetic and cytogenetic tests were found more expensive than other tests. This study is significant in that it describes the first reference survey that offers a survey procedure and questionnaire to assess customer satisfaction with clinical laboratory and phlebotomy services at a tertiary care unit level.

Keywords: Customer satisfaction survey, Clinical laboratory, Phlebotomy, Service