Often criticized for being curt, even arrogant, many hospital workers are now making active efforts to mend their ways as a government curb on medical spending has prompted competition among institutions to win "customers".
( A part of report is omitted.)
Keiju Medical Center of Ishikawa Prefecture has embraced the concept of customer-relationship management ( CRM ), which means one-to-one marketing service tailored to the needs of individual patients.
Specifically, the hospital has set up an online system linking itself with seven affiliated clinics and nursing care centers and centrally manages a database of medical charts.
The hospital also set up last year a call center that handles patients' complaints and offers advice on medical matters and nursing care for family members as well as taking reservations and changing appointments. In addition, the hospital began a new service to have a heart specialist offer diagnosis upon receiving a faxed cardiogram taken by a patient at home using portable equipment whenever the patient detects any heart problem.
The hospital began accepting credit card payments ahead of most other institutions. It is equipped with a well-appointed lobby and waiting rooms comparable to those of hotels, as well as an in-house convenience store, and offers baths in hot-spring water.