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Customer Service Makes the World Go ’Round

Marie Walton, CMPE
Vice-President, Client Services iMed Group, Houston, TX

Well, even if it does not necessarily make the world go ’round, good customer service certainly makes the journey less bumpy. We can all easily identify poor customer service—just think back to the last bad experience in a store or restaurant. Defining what comprises good customer service is a much more difficult task. Most agree that customer service is an organization’s ability to meet their customers’ wants and needs. However, many believe that good customer service is an organization’s ability to constantly and consistently exceed the needs of their customers.

Though our customers’ expectations and needs may differ according to our fields of service, the general rules of good customer service pertain to all of us. As I was preparing to write this article, I asked personnel in different areas of our office two questions: “Who do you consider to be your customers?” and “What do you do to provide them with good customer service?” I then analyzed their answers, incorporated them into my current research and arrived at the following common elements of good customer service:

Additional training tools and information on this subject may be found in the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) website at www.mgma.com by entering “customer service” in the search box.


Marie Walton, CMPE is Vice-President for Client Services of iMed Group, a medical practice management company where she has worked for almost 10 years. Currently, she serves as President- Elect of the Medical Group Management Association Anesthesia Administration Assembly (MGMA-AAA). She has made many anesthesia business presentations for MGMA-AAA and Anesthesia Administrators of Texas (AAT). Ms. Walton may be contacted at mwalton@imedgroup.com.