Disney has been long respected for excellent customer service and for treating its “guests” with the personal touch that improves the theme park visit. Disney’s “on-stage” and “off-stage” approach to separating public and private areas is well-known, with “cast members” (employees) always maintaining a magic image to the public. The Orlando Sentinel (July 16, 
2011) now reports that Disney has designed a program for health-care professionals to assure that patients are as satisfied with a trip to the hospital or doctor’s office as they are with a trip to the theme park.
For $3,500 each, health-care workers spend 3 1/2 days at Disney, learning to pay closer attention to the patient experience. “Oftentimes in health care, the patient in the bed is almost secondary”, says a consultant. “Everyone comes in looking at their task instead of the patient”.
When Disney worked with Florida Hospital to open a new children’s pavilion a few months ago, the plan includes simplified name tags, new uniforms, a ban on cell phones, greeting patients with a smile, and kneeling down to talk to children at eye level. (Our Table 6.5 in the Managing Quality chapter relates to these “determinants of service quality”).
“By exceeding expectations, doctors can attract new clients through referrals from satisfied patients”, says Dr. Chris Smith, a S. Carolina family doctor who attended the Disney program. At Smith’s office, the receptionist is now a “greeter”. And he has established off-stage private break rooms for staff to relax, vent, or do things a patient should not see. Just like other industries, doctors are learning that every service activity matters.
Discussion questions:
1. Ask students to describe a positive and a negative medical service experience.
2. What other quality tools can medical professionals employ from non-medical fields?