The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the quality of services delivered by the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. The clearinghouse provides informational support to the general public and professionals by disseminating materials on alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as on substance abuse prevention and treatment. Customers contact the clearinghouse through various channels - toll free telephone calls, email, fax, U.S. mail, Web site and by making on-site visits. In order to evaluate and maintain the quality of services provided by the clearinghouse, it is necessary to obtain and analyze customer feedback. Customer satisfaction questionnaires were designed in three different formats to elicit responses through telephone, mail (via the catalog), and on-site visits. The tools contained items pertaining to different aspects of service such as information specialists' knowledge, usefulness of the materials and other demographics. Data collection commenced in September 1999 and will continue on an ongoing basis. Responses to similar items on the different questionnaires were generally consistent, though some interesting differences were found depending on the mode of contact. This study enables the comparison between tools that measure the same concepts on different sets of people, and strengthens our understanding of customer needs in this unique setting.
Learning Objectives: 1.Understand the background and process by which a national information dissemination program strives to obtain customer feedback and ensure customer satisfaction. 2.Explain the benefits of obtaining feedback from customers at different points of contact. 3.Describe ways to compare responses to different surveys to measure a given aspect of service.
Keywords: Quality Assurance, Survey
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: SAMHSA's National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.