The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) revealed in a report issued by the Support Services sector, the achievements of the Ministry in the field of customer happiness. Customer happiness index reached 93 per cent. The percentage of digitalization of priority services was rated at 80 per cent, while some initiatives and projects contributed to improving and developing the efficiency of the government and customer-oriented services, saving more than AED 1 million annually.
His Excellency Awad Saghir Al Ketbi, MOHAP’s Assistant Undersecretary for Support Services, emphasized the importance of enhancing customer experience and happiness in line with the Ministry’s strategy to ‘ensure and guarantee the provision of all administrative services according to the standards of quality, efficiency and transparency;’ to instill a culture of innovation in work environments; to create a positive work culture that encourages healthy competition, creativity and innovation; and provide solutions to future challenges.
Sustained partnership with customers
His Excellency pointed out that the Ministry is the first federal entity to manage the system of monitoring and evaluating comments on social media, which is now one of the most important platforms that provide vital information required for the formulation of management plans and policies, including decisions affecting customer happiness. He added that the Ministry has adopted global best practices and administrative systems focusing on four indicators: efficient service, customer experience, services development and meeting customers’ needs. This is in line with the Ministry’s strategy to increase customer happiness through the integration of smart and e-services to enhance cooperation, build sustainable partnerships, and create customer-centric environments.
Ms. Fatima Al-Wali, Director of Customer Service Centers, highlighted the Ministry’s commitment to providing high-quality services and its continuous efforts to develop policies and systems using the best practices and modern management concepts. She added that this is being accomplished with the help of partners that share the Ministry's vision and mission to meet customer expectations.
She further highlighted the launch of many initiatives by the Ministry to develop e-services with an aim to facilitate easy access to services and enhance customer experience. Results of these efforts are indicated by a drop in the average number of daily visitors to its Customer Happiness Center in Dubai, from 250 in the first quarter of 2015 to around 35 by the first quarter of 2018.
Changes that made difference to customers
Based on this successful strategy, the number of front-line staff has been reduced and are being utilized in the management of alternative communication channels such as e-mails and live chat management. These have been the preferred mode of communication with record response-time on most requested services such as medical profession assessment, medical profession licensing, nursing and others.
In terms of communicating with customers, MOHAP is implementing various measures to collect their opinions and remarks, including their purpose for using the Ministry’s services. The Ministry is conducting annual studies to identify customers’ evolving needs and preferences, in addition to organizing meetings with customers to allow them to participate in the development of the services being offered. Customer satisfaction rate was 74 per cent in 2016, which was higher than the 70 per cent received by the federal government. The Ministry is using the ‘Face Emotion Recognizer’ application which can monitor facial expressions of customers at the service centers to gauge customer happiness levels.
Positive feedback on customer happiness
The results highlight the Ministry’s work on more than 300 ideas and proposals received from customers in 2017. Also, response time on customer complaints and remarks within the specified time frame was 94 percent. The Ministry's move to activate various channels to collect complaints and proposals contributed to the increase in customer interaction levels, particularly in responding, monitoring, and evaluating innovative ideas and proposals put forward by customers. MOHAP received more than 160,000 calls in 2017, of which about 97 percent were attended to.