Health Care Improvements The health care industry is one that is much criticized in the United States. Many consumers look at this industry as one big giant industry that is only concerned about profitability, not about the health and safety of its customers. The health care industry must make many changes to change their image and provide better service to its customers. Medicare is a government health care insurance that covers 80% of the medical cost for individuals over the age of 65 years. Medicare currently has a bad reputation with its customers and with doctors. It is important for Medicare to change its reputation and build better relationship with customers and with doctors. By changing their image, Medicare will attract more doctors to become participants and this will be a better service for the customers. In this paper I will address some important steps that Medicare could take to change their image and provide better service to their customers. The paper will discuss the how the improvements will be monitored and what tools are needed to collect and monitor data.

Necessary Changes

Some of the necessary changes to create a better image for the organization and improve customer satisfaction are preventing hospital readmissions, wellness and health promotions, and direct interactions to improve patient outcomes (Phelan & Jones, 2010). Medicare has to allow medical professionals such as doctor and nurses to provide the best care for the patients. Medicare must allow adequate hospital stays for patients to avoid readmissions. Medicare should pay for necessary testing for patients without a long process of getting approvals prior to testing. Doctors should be in control of patients' well-being and physical conditions, not insurance companies. Patients do not want their medical decisions being made by the government; they want those decisions to be made by doctors (GAO Reports, 2001). Recent changes in Medicare polices, will prevent Medicare customers from getting quality necessities such as wheelchairs (PR Newswire, 2010). These policies must be changed.

Provide Better Patient Service

Medicare should provide training to their employees and demand a high level of customer service. Patients and health care professionals should be treated respectfully and given the proper information. Timely approvals of medical procedures and testing's would increase customer satisfaction. Creating better patient service and patient satisfaction will help more doctors to enroll in Medicare participation list. Medicare patients should not be denied brand name drugs or quality products. They should be given the same treatment as any patient with other insurance companies. Patients should be allowed to stay in the hospital for full recovery; this will help prevent injuries and readmissions.
Tool to Measure Patient Satisfaction

Patient satisfaction can be measured with the use of a focus group. A focus group is a great way to collect data about the changes that Medicare is implementing and to ensure if the quality improvements are effective. A focus group, is a group of about four to ten participants, who share their thoughts and experiences about the topic of interest, the sessions are tape recorded (Morgan & Spanish, 1984). Information gathered in a focus group is very useful, since the participants are asked open ended questions, they can elaborate about their feelings or experiences. It is a great tool for measuring patient satisfaction. The focus group will collect information about patient satisfaction.

The level or customer service provided to patients and healthcare workers can be measured by recording phone calls. Recorded phone calls and monitoring phone calls is a method that many organizations utilizes to collect data about quality improvements. When the calls are monitored or recorded the representatives are more likely to provide a high level of customer service. This data collection tool will allow the company to collect data about actual calls and real customer service.

Change Image

Changing the image of Medicare is essential for the organization. The…