2004 Communications Survey Results
HOME      CONTACT US     EQA PROGRAMS     NEWSLETTER     ANNUAL REPORTS     SITE MAP  
compiled by Dr. Michael Noble, Chair   (1-page pdf-format)
  Every year CMPT is committed to asking laboratory professionals that participate in our programs their opinions, as one approach towards continuous quality improvement.
  CMPT surveys are part of our quality management program. They are planned and organized on specific topics. The questions are kept focused and to a minimum to reduce ambiguity and response fatigue. This year the survey addressed communications through our web-site, our newsletter, and our telephone/facsimilie system.
  In most years CMPT has asked participants to volunteer their responses. This approach has been successful with responses from more than half of our participant laboratories. This year we promoted response by providing an opportunity to win through the B. C. Lottery Commission. The response rate remained essentially the same as other years. This year we received 83 responses and although the survey was open to all laboratory personnel in each laboratory most laboratories provided a single response. Most responders identified themselves as either senior technologists (41) or bench technologists (24). Other responders identified as charge technologists, laboratory managers, or a combination.
 

CMPT Connections:

With respect to our newsletter, we found a number of positives. All said they received CMPT Connections, and all but one said they had read most or all of the editions. All but two said they read it for five, ten or more minutes. Most laboratories (85%) said they posted CMPT Connections where others could read it, although they were not sure how many others in the laboratory actually read it. When we asked if receiving a personal e-mail copy would make it easier for reading, barely 20% thought that would help.. For those that do not read CMPT Connections, they are obviously missing a good thing. Ninety-one percent of responders found it very or extremely readable, 85% found it very or extremely informative, 80% said it was very or extremely educational. The single most important barrier to its not being read even more is the lack of available reading time at work. Some thought that CMPT Connections would be enhanced if we added in more science related articles, while others thought additional “soft” news would make it more interesting. A small, but significant group said that more case studies would enhance the newsletter.
 

Web-site:

With respect to the CMPT web-site (www.cmpt.ca) the trend in results was very similar. As a changing sign of the times, 93% of responders have access to the internet while at work. But similar to the time pressures expressed about reading CMPT Connections, only 25% get to the internet regularly at work, and 15% never do. Seventy percent get to the CMPT web-site either regularly or occasionally. Of those that do get to the website 78% find it very or extremely readable, 80% find it very or extremely informative, and 70% find it very or extremely educational. Seventy percent of visitors find having past critiques on the web-site very or extremely helpful. About 60% found it helpful to know that CMPT Connections was also available on the web-site so that if they wanted to have access to it away from work, or at a quiet accessible moment they could read it on-line.
  About 70% found it helpful that preliminary results and CMPT notices were available on the web-site. This is one of the real advantages of web-sites because it reduces the delay between release of information and access literally to barely seconds.
  Not surprisingly the major barrier to access was time, although for some laboratories, access is still a difficulty because access to the internet is only available at a computer outside the laboratory. About half felt that some enhancements could be made to the site, although there was no obvious area.
 

Telephone and Facsimile:

With respect to telephone and fax connections, most people said they had not telephoned, but when they had, they found CMPT readily accessible, and the staff very or extremely helpful. The only complaint about the fax service was that sometimes, especially at send-in time, the line was busy.
 

Conclusions & Outcomes:

CMPT has reviewed the results of this survey, and we get the clear impression that most participants find our communication systems working well. Where we try to be readable, informative, and educational, others find that we succeed. If we could arrange to provide everyone with more time for reading and “webbing” at work, we would, but that may be a little beyond our abilities.

  There are some things that we can do and have done.
 
  • We have made calling CMPT easier by providing a new toll-free number (1-866-579-CMPT).
 
  • We have changed the telephone answering system so that there are no more busy signals.
 
  • We have made faxing CMPT easier by providing a new toll-free number (1-866-580-CMPT).
 
  • We have created a mechanism that will allow for completing response forms “on-the-web” so that there will no longer be a delay in faxing in the forms. This will create an opportunity for instantaneous access to preliminary results. More on all this later.
top  Next year we will have another survey, although we are not sure on what specific topic. If you have a suggestion, please send it in. Our challenge to you is to see if next time we can receive at least 3 responses from every laboratory.