2360 Engaging, capturing, and integrating the voice of the customer
and collaborator in a clinical and translational science program
Authors: Volkov Boris , Cieslak Jennifer , Matthiesen Brook 
Published: November 2018

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: This presentation will highlight the
framework, domains, and approaches of the “Engaging the Voice of the
CTS Customer and Collaborator System” created at the University of
Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) in response to the
need to improve the stakeholder engagement, quality, efficiency, consistency,
and transparency of the clinical and translational work. This system addresses 3
important results-based accountability measures/questions:
“What should we do?”, “How well did we do
it?”, and “Is anyone better off?”. According to
Woolf (2008), “translational research means different things to
different people.” Social networks and systems that support
translational processes and outcomes are complex, nonlinear, and
multidisciplinary (Smith et al., 2017). In this highly
uncertain and fluid context, the input of program stakeholders is paramount to
move translation forward. NCATS Strategic Plan (2016) directs the grantees to
engage patients, community members and nonprofit organizations meaningfully in
translational science and all aspects of translational research. Engagement of
stakeholders throughout the lifecycle of a translational research project
ensures the project processes and outcomes are relevant to and directly address
their needs and will be more readily adopted by the community.
“Customer” (among other terms are Beneficiary,
Collaborator, Client, Community, Consumer, Service User, etc.) is a person,
organization, or entity who directly benefits from service delivery or program
(Friedman, 2005). Customers can be: direct and indirect, primary and secondary,
internal and external. Our analysis of CTS stakeholders (“Who are our
customers/collaborators?”) produced the following list of
customers and collaborators: researchers, University departments, translational
science workforce, patients, community members and entities, nonprofit
organizations, industry collaborators, NCATS/NIH, CTSA hub partners,
and CTSI staff. The “Voice of the Customer” (VOC) is the
term used to describe the stated and unstated needs or requirements of the
program’s customer. The “voice of the customer”
is a process used to capture the feedback from the customer (internal or
external) to provide the customers with the best quality of service, support,
and/or product. This process is about being proactive and constantly
innovative to capture the changing needs of the customers with time. Related to
the VOC is the concept of user innovation that refers to innovations developed
by consumers and end users. Experience shows that sometimes the best product or
a process concept idea comes from a customer (Yang, 2007: p. 20). Capturing and
utilizing such ideas are also relevant to VOC and can be operationalized and
implemented as a valuable strategy. The University of Minnesota
CTSI’s key objectives, goals, and uses of engaging the VOC and
collaborator are as follows: (1) Engage CTSA customers (“relevant
stakeholders”) in multiple aspects of translational science and look
for opportunities to include their perspective (per NCATS strategic principles).
(2) Inform continuous improvement, strategic management, and M&E
efforts, the identification of customer needs and wants, comprehensive problem
definition and ideation, new concept development and optimization. (3) Synergize
NCATS and partner expectations and campus/hub needs. (4) Translate
VOC into functional and measurable service requirements.
METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: A case study of the programmatic and
methodological approach/technique development. The VOC at the UMN
CTSI has been captured in a variety of ways: regular and ad hoc surveys,
interviews, focus groups, Engagement Studios, formal call for
patient/community ideas and proposals, informal conversations,
customer/community membership and participation in the Advisory
Boards and Executive Leadership Team meetings, and observations. Our VOC
variables and metrics assess customer needs, wants, knowledge, and skills;
customer satisfaction with processes and outcomes; and customer ideas for
improvement and innovation. The ensuing customer feedback and other data have
been used to identify and incorporate the important attributes needed in the
CTSI processes, products, and dissemination. UMN CTSI partners in engaging and
capturing the VOC include our past, current, and potential customers and
collaborators, communities, program staff and service providers, program
administration, communication staff, M&E team, internal and external
data collectors. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: The proposed
comprehensive approach shows sound promise to enhance customer and collaborator
engagement, critical thinking, learning, strategic management, evaluation
capacity and improvement within clinical and translational science
organizations. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: This structured
approach’s impact is significant in that it fills the current gap in
the practice, literature, and methodology and offers a practical example of a
“practice that works” for CTR (and other) organizations
and programs striving to improve their stakeholder engagement and program
impact. Leveraging and synergizing the VOC and community engagement approaches
can help CTS organizations advance beyond capturing individual
project/service experiences to drawing a holistic portrait of an
institution-level (and, potentially, a nation-level) translational science
program.

References

Friedman M. Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough: How to Produce
Measurable Improvements for Customers and Communities. Trafford,
2005.

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. NCATS
Strategic Plan [Internet], 2016. NIH
(https://ncats.nih.gov/strategicplan)

Smith C,et al. Toward a science of translational science. Journal of
Clinical and Translational Science 2017; 1:
253–255.

Woolf SH. The meaning of translational research and why it matters.
JAMA 2008; 29: 211–213.

Yang, K. Voice of the Customer Capture and
Analysis. US: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2007.