As part of our commitment to our customers and to the continual improvement of our products and services, we send out a customer survey every year. Our goal is to better understand the needs of our customers so we can improve our products and services, and to uncover any problems with our programs and procedures that we might not have noticed.
In February 2024, we send our general Customer Satisfaction Survey to approximately 150 labs. We received 23 responses.
Highlights
Participants were asked their feedback on specific areas such as communications, PT samples, educational resources, reports. 95% of respondents had no problems whatsoever with CMPT communications and 91% had no problems with transport or receiving. We’re happy to report that the one communication issue mentioned was resolved, and the transport/receiving issues that were reported were issues beyond CMPT’s control. We take pride in working with our customers to resolve their problems. After all, we are partners in improving quality!
Of the customers who responded to our survey, 90% found our samples to be relevant and of high quality.
Many people found our newsletter valuable, at 46%, while a surprising 32% were unaware that we have one. If you’re in that third of people, we have a newsletter! Every month we send interesting and relevant information about the world of microbiology and proficiency testing. If you aren’t subscribed, please feel free to do so here.
Complaints
CMPT takes customers’ complaints and comments seriously and we approach each of them as an opportunity for improvement.
A few comments were related to the seemly discrepancy between CMPT’s expectations on the results and local clinical guidelines and protocols. These comments mainly apply to CMPT’s Clinical Bacteriology program.
It is important to clarify that the grading is performed by a technical committee that represents most of Canada’s provinces, so those discrepancies can be addressed before hand.
CMPT also has a formal appeal process that the laboratories can use to ask for the revision of any grading if considered unfair. In this case, again, the whole technical committee reviews the appeal and decides if the grading stands or is changed.
A couple of comments were related to the clarity and specific information included on the PT final reports.
Last year, we addressed comments received regarding the clarity of grading of challenges by adding the grading criteria to each final report and in the CMPT members’ site.
CMPT has initiated a series of activities to address these concerns including:
– Increase awareness of the formal appeal process
– Revise Final Reports for clarity and usefulness of relevant information
Overwork
Labs also reported a lot of overwork, not surprisingly. 42% said personnel in their labs experienced stress, fatigue, and overwork. 37% indicated that their available time for continuing education activities was compromised by staffing and workflow issues. 32% reported a significant increase in specimen workload, at least one of which was due to the re-organization of lab services in Alberta. And finally, 21% reported experiencing supply chain issues. While the figure for supply chain issues remained the same as last year, these other reported impacts were up 20% or more.
If you’re feeling burnt-out and overworked, know that you aren’t alone. We see you, we appreciate you, and we are grateful for your hard work and long hours.
Looking Forward to 2024
With the new year already well underway and PT programs about to ship in April, we look forward to supporting our customers with expanded PT programs, our self-paced professional development course (free for PT participants!), our various courses through POLQM, and with individual customer service.
