Name

Professor

Customer service

30 March 2012

Training plan for Customer Service Medical Support Assistant

Customer service is one of the most important departments in every company because it acts as the main link between the customer and the company. In the absence of customers, businesses have no one to sell their goods or services to. For any business to be successful, it must take customer care very seriously beginning with top management to those below them. Competition for customers has risen in all sectors which mean that customers can go elsewhere if they feel that they are not receiving the best services (Scott A. Snell, et al, 2012). Medical support assistants are the first people that patients meet when they visit medical facilities. They act as a link between patients and doctors and they also answer calls, remind doctors of their daily agendas and schedule appointments.

Steps in conducting a needs assessment

What is the purpose of the needs assessment?

This step requires individuals to state the things they are well acquainted with, the things they think they are acquainted with and the things they want to be acquainted with about the problem. It also entails why an individual is carrying out needs assessment. In addition, this step identifies what one is attempting to measure and what is to be done with the data collected. This step also involves identifying ways of reporting the information obtained, bringing all interested parties onboard and assigning responsibilities to people during different steps.

Identifying the population

This step involves identifying the people who will take part in the needs assessment like patients, hospital administrators, doctors, medical support assistants, nurses, members of the community and volunteers.

Establishing the ways of carrying out the needs assessment

This step entails coming up with ways to carryout the needs assessment.

Devise a survey instrument to use during the needs assessment

The survey instrument chosen may include questionnaires, observation and interviews among others.

Collect all data regarding the need in question.

This step includes establishing baseline data, management system for organizing the data; follow up mechanisms for those who did not respond, organizing the data by key groups and summarizing the data to make it simple to understand.

Analyzing data

This step involves determining the strengths and weaknesses of the data collected.

Use the results to develop both long and short term goals of the organization. To do this, one should first develop a plan and allocate all the required resources to implement it.

Training objectives

To develop a training program that meets the needs of everyone involved in healthcare.

To provide support and guidance to medical support assistants with an aim of improving performance.

To stimulate positive attitudes towards healthcare professionals.

To increase productivity among medical support assistants by equipping with the necessary skills and equipments.

Training methods to be used by the program

The program will use four main methods namely;

Induction training-this type of training will be used on new recruits into the medical support assistant job. The training will mainly include learning the requirements of the job, the challenges in handling customers, learning the goals of the organization and learning the internal functioning and policies of the organization. Induction training will include workshops, seminars and meetings. The main reason why I choose induction training is because it’s cost effective and it prepares employees for the challenges they are likely to face in their new jobs (Anne Bogardus, 2009).

On the job training- this type of training will be aimed at the people already working in the organization. It will include demonstrations, job rotations, coaching and working on team projects. I choose on the job training because it has many advantages like cot effectiveness, makes employees become more productive and also because it gives employees the chance to learn while doing their duties.

Off-the job training- in this type of training, medical support assistants will be taken away from their workplace and get training. Some of the methods that will be used in off the job training are sponsored courses, day releases, sandwich courses, self study, distance learning and block releases. I settled on this type of training because it offers a wide range of skills compared to other methods. It also offers employees opportunity to learn from experts or specialists out then organization.

Lesson plan

Title Method Duration participants

Handling correspondence Seminar 3 hours beginners

Filing records Workshop 10 hours practitioners

Scheduling appointments Seminars 6 hours practitioners

Arranging hospital admission demonstrations 6 hours beginners

Collecting specimen coaching 2 days practitioners

Sterilizing medical equipments Seminar 1 week practitioners

Performing basic laboratory tests Sandwich courses 3 weeks practitioners

Disposing contaminated hospital wastes coaching 7 hours beginners

Some of the training materials that will be used in this training plan for medical support assistants are manuals, notes, films, fliers, internet, diagrams and PowerPoint presentations.

Program evaluation plan

Kindly tick where possible

Questions no Somehow yes Absolutely yes

Did the training meet your expectations? Do you think the knowledge gained is useful? Were the trainers effective? Were topics well covered? Was the training well organized? Were the materials used in the training effective? Was adequate time provided for questions and discussions? poor average good excellent

How do you rate the training? Which part of the training do you think needs improvement? Any other comments. The main strength of this training program is that it’s very flexible and can be used on both novice and practicing medical support assistants. It also gives participants room to interact with other people therefore improving their knowledge. Since much of the training can be done at the work place, the training program cuts down on travel expenses that employees would incur travelling to distant places (Scott A. Snell, et al, 2012). Due to its flexibility, the program also gives employees the freedom to arrange for their own participation. The program is also very effective because it uses that media that is easy to understand.

One major disadvantages of this training program is that it’s expensive. From the equipments needed to the time employees will spend on training, the program can prove to be expensive to the organization. The program also requires a lot of logistical planning and this may affect the smooth running of organization. Lastly, it may be very difficult to track the effectiveness of the plan if many trainees are involved.

References

Anne Bogardus. PHR / SPHR Professional in Human Resources Certification Study Guide. John Wiley & Sons; ISBN0470430966, 9780470430965, 2009

Justin Gooderl Longenecker, et al. Small business management: an entrepreneurial emphasis. Cengage Learning; ISBN0324226128, 9780324226126, 2005

Scott A. Snell, et al. Managing Human Resources. Cengage Learning; ISBN1111532826, 9781111532826, 2012