Learning to listenCustomer Services trains for diverse CareOregon membership |
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It’s not at all unusual for a health care professional to speak a second language, or even a third one. It just makes good practice sense when a quarter of your panel speaks Spanish, for example. But few medical offices also have staff members who speak Farsi, Chamorro and Gujarati.
Collectively, CareOregon members use 57 languages (including ASL) and identify with even more cultures. The 27-person CareOregon Customer Services team has members who speak Spanish and Russian, and others who identify as African American and many other cultures. But it just isn’t possible to have someone who can speak the language and understand the culture of each member. “Our staff works with many people from different cultures every day,” says Patti Guynes, Customer Services Supervisor. The staff makes good use of AT&T Language Line Services to translate. But there are other challenges:
That’s why Customer Services has been training for “customer service and the diversity challenge.”
“It was primarily to have us work better together in a diverse work culture and to have us work better with a diverse membership,” Patti says. “It really allowed all of our staff to think about how we communicate with each other and how we listen to others."
Part of the training was to instill the idea that everyone has their own culture, she says. “It’s not just language or ethnicity. It’s your family, how you were raised, where you grew up, what school you went to.” Part of the training was being aware of one’s own “filters,” says David Lima, also Customer Services Supervisor. For example, a person’s filter may seem as innocuous as a name. “You run it through your own filters and come up with preconceived ideas about the person,” he says. Maybe the person has the same name as the bully who stole your lunch money in third grade. “The whole point is to understand what things mean to you so you can understand others better, and be more successful in your interactions with them,” David says. Culture is survival
Everyone learns how to survive in their own environment. The lessons make a difference in how you dress, how you talk, how you react to other people. “You need a lot of different survival skills if you live in Alaska than you do if you live in Miami,” David says. “Everyone is different because they had to adapt to their own situation. It doesn’t make them any less than someone else. It just makes them different.” The training, and follow-up practice, will help the team learn to be flexible enough to alter their own communication styles to better meet the needs of customers, Patti says. Customer Services will continue training and practice. Eventually, the training will be made available for all CareOregon staff members who interact with customers. |
CareOregon by the numbers100,253—The number of CareOregon members 66—The percentage of members who are 19 or younger 57—The total number of non-English languages used by CareOregon members 55—The percentage of members who are female 47—The percentage of members who identify as persons of color 40*—The percentage of our CareOregon Advantage (Medicare) members who are 65 and older 31—The percentage of members who do not speak English as their first language 23*—The percentage of members who identify themselves as Latino/Hispanic 21—The percentage of members who are 4 or younger 10*—The percentage of our members who are African American
10—The number of languages spoken by at least 100 CareOregon member-households:
6*—The percentage of our members who are Asian American 4—The number of languages in which the CareLink member newsletter is printed: English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Russian *As of November 2007. All other figures are as of June 2008. Link to: Minority distribution, 2000 census |
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