Search

The importance and paybacks of great service, ways of improving service quality and the alignment concept are discussed. A small consumer bank known for its excellent service is used as a case study to demonstrate how this can be achieved with a well-aligned set of human resource practices focused on enlivening service strategy for customers and employees, and maintaining tradition and service culture.

Primary care clinics may be one of the best places for AIDS research to be conducted both for the patient's benefit and for the benefit of learning more about earlier intervention in the course of the disease. Patients may benefit from continuity of care if they do not have to travel to different sites and meet with different practitioners in order to be enrolled in clinical trials. Primary care sites also have the advantage of enrolling potentially large numbers of participants. There may be differences between treatment and research. Bringing research into the patient's primary care setting will ensure that communication between the primary physician and the research team works in the patient's interest. Personnel considerations involve issues of management and definition of roles of study coordinators and study managers. Physical space considerations and laboratory needs are also discussed.