HFMA VIEWS

Scott MacStravic, Ph.D.

Forrester Research, in a recent report on the financial services industry, rated banks, insurance, brokerage and similar companies on their “customer advocacy.” [B. Doyle “Customer Advocacy 2006: How Consumers Rate Their Banks, Brokerages, and Insurers” Forrester Research Business View Trends May 22, 2006 (www.forrester,com)] Forrester defines “customer advocacy” as “consumer perception that the firm does what’s best for customers, not just firm’s bottom line.”

Some of the country’s largest banks rated poorly, with scores indicating as few as 18-35% of consumers though they were customer advocates. BY contrast, the always top-rated insurance company, USAA, which offers insurance to members of the armed forces, persuaded 68% of consumers, among 5,000 who were surveyed, of its commitment to customers. Credit unions as a group were rated just behind at 67%.

Since Forrester deals with national firms and industries, while health care is almost entirely local, it is understandable that it has not reported on customer advocacy among hospitals or physician groups. But this may be an important measure of reputation or image to check on. With the recent revival of government reviews of tax exemption, scandals about hospital’s “overcharging” uninsured patients, and generally declining trust in health care providers, checking on consumers’ perceptions of customer advocacy, perhaps getting ratings of your own organization compared to competitors, may offer some useful insights.

Even more important might be probing consumer ratings of your customer advocacy to learn why they score you as they did. Certainly, probing patient satisfaction ratings to learn the reasons for them offers useful insights into how providers can improve their ratings, and the same should be true for customer advocacy. While lobbying federal, state and local governments may well be essential to protecting tax exemption, having local consumer support should help with that, as well as with marketing, public relations, and fund raising. Do you know what’s your score?