In an effort to obtain valuable feedback from one of our most important stakeholder groups, our Diplomates, NCCAOM conducts the Diplomate Satisfaction Surveys minimally every other year and has since 2005. The 2015 survey has been very instrumental in providing the NCCAOM staff and Board of Commissioners direct input from Diplomates regarding their satisfaction with our services and products, as well as providing us with comments and suggestions that will help the NCCAOM offer more benefits to our Diplomates in the future. As a result of the feedback that we garner from the satisfaction surveys, the NCCAOM created new marketing materials for our Diplomates, enhanced the NCCAOM website with a new AOM News and Resource Center to promote the use of AOM for various ailments, and launched an online recertification application process saving time and money for our Diplomates. The 2015 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey was conducted from August 18 to September 18, 2015. A total of 1,625 Diplomates responded to and completed the survey. The NCCAOM would like to thank every Diplomate who took the time to complete the 2015 Diplomate Satisfaction Survey. The results of this survey will serve as a new benchmark as NCCAOM continues to strive for increased customer satisfaction.

Results

Combining all of the customer services survey responses, there is an 83% overall customer service satisfaction in the top two categories (“Very Satisfied” and “Satisfied”). The NCCAOM staff is also very pleased to see that the percentage of Diplomates who are very satisfied has risen 7% since 2008.

We attribute this good news to be a result of the staff’s commitment to continuously improve our customer service and to NCCAOM’s management who always strive toward an even higher goal of excellence in customer satisfaction.

Graph 1: Overall Experience with the NCCAOM

Based on qualitative data received from Diplomates, the NCCAOM® Recertification Handbook, which explains the recertification process, needs to be simplified. As a result of your direct feedback, we are working with a vendor so that by January of 2016 all new coursework completed from an NCCAOM PDA Provider found on the PDA Search Engine, the PDA certificate and the NCCAOM® Recertification Handbook, will be synchronized to eliminate confusion. In the meantime, NCCAOM’s Diplomate Services team will revamp the NCCAOM® Recertification Handbook to better portray the recertification process in a more clear and concise manner. We welcome any future comments or suggestions on the content and layout of the NCCAOM® Recertification Handbook for 2016.The NCCAOM Staff is also planning to publish a list of commonly asked questions from the survey with detailed answers, on the NCCAOM website in the coming weeks.

As noted above, while many of the questions are related to customer service so that we can continuously improve our services in this area, every survey features a distinct question to help us better customize our services and products to further benefit the Diplomate population This year, Question 5 focused on what type of services would benefit Diplomate to help better market or promote them. Based on quantitative data shown on Graph 3, the survey results revealed that a media campaign topped the most interest in terms of promoting Diplomates and their credentials:

  • A Media Campaign to promote NCCAOM Diplomates (89%)
  • Tools to promote your credentials such as sample press releases, etc. (87%)
  • An Annual AOM conference offered by NCCAOM (75%)

As a result, the NCCAOM will be launching a public education campaign to include working with a public relations and media consultant to promote nationally board certified AOM practitioners. The NCCAOM Public and Professional Recognition Awareness Taskforce has already been formed and meeting for this purpose.

Graph 3: Qualitative Data of Public Relations ServicesPublic Relations

Another area where staff received very specific feedback was the General Comments section of the survey. Thirty nine (39%) of the qualitative responses received from the Survey were in the category “State Regulatory Affairs, Advocacy” and the request for the NCCAOM to provide “membership” services. This feedback indicates that there continues to be confusion by Diplomates who assume that NCCAOM is a membership organization, and therefore, should provide membership services. This is an area that the NCCAOM Board and staff will further examine.The chart below explains the difference in roles between a certification organization and professional membership services organization.
NCCAOM Role

To obtain more information on the role of NCCAOM and Advocacy, please read the following article, previously published.

Promoting National Standards through Advocacy: NCCAOM Working For and With You

The NCCAOM staff believes you will benefit from these updated services that resulted from your valuable feedback. We are always eager to hear your suggestions for changes that will benefit you, the Diplomate, and the AOM profession overall. It is with your feedback that we can continue to meet your needs.

We are listening!