Change the reference number. They are less vulnerable to price wars. There is sufficient evidence to prove that organizations with high customer loyalty can command a higher price without losing their profit or market share. Increased staff morale with reduced staff turnoveralso leads to increased productivity. Reduced risk of malpractice suits — an inverse correlation has been reported for patient satisfaction rates and medical malpractice suits.
Increased personal and professional satisfaction - patients who improve with our care definitely make us happier. Service excellence revolves around three factors: doctor, patient, and organization. Undoubtedly, the physician has twin responsibilities of giving the best health care to the patient, and leading the team or the organization in attaining the goal of satisfying the patient. Break the ice : make eye contact, smile, call people by name, express with words of concern. Show courtesy : Kind gestures and polite words make a patient very comfortable.
Listen and understand : encourage patients to tell their problem. Invite and answer their questions. Inform and explain : it promotes compliance. People are less anxious when they know what's happening. Share the responsibility : risks and uncertainty are facts of life in medical practice.
Acknowledging risks builds trust. Pay undivided attention : this reduces distractions and interruptions as much as possible. Secure confidentiality and privacy : watch what you say, where you say, and to whom you say. Remember the patient's family : families feel protective, anxious, frightened, and insecure. Extend yourself, reassure, and inform. A patient's liking the doctor has a lot to do with the patient getting better.
A patient's expectations of a good service depend on age, gender, nature of illness, hour of the day, his or her attitude toward the problem and the circumstances. In general, patients expect their doctors to keep up the timings, behave cordially, and communicate in their language. They expect care, concern, and courtesy in addition to a good professional job. Certain tips can help a doctor or a hospital to understand the patients better:. Recognize that patients expect a personal relationship that shows compassion and care.
Recognize that the patient has got certain rights. Various regulatory authorities and hospitals have drawn a charter of rights for the patients. Many a times it happens that with a competent doctor and a compliant patient, the problems persist because of the policies, work culture, and attitude shown by the hospital.
Traditionally, hospitals have had discrete functional services such as house-keeping, dietary services, pharmacy, laboratory, etc. Unfortunately, this specialization has led to more fragmentation, costly care, and less than ideal customer service. A study describes that during a typical 3- to 4-day stay in a large hospital, a patient may interact with employees. Several changes are being seen in the management strategies with the goal of serving better and improving the service quality.
There are certain areas where minimum requirements and standards have to be maintained. Ensure that a smart, competent, and intelligent person is placed to handle the telephone for he or she will be the voice of the practice. Establish standards to ensure that the telephone is picked within a certain time, mode and tone of speech are cordial, and a triage protocol is followed which helps to ward off the unnecessary calls when the doctor is busy in his or her professional work.
Periodically, a survey can be made to monitor how these standards are followed. An esthetically designed office, which is well-furnished, properly spaced with good interiors, well equipped with lighting, water, furniture, etc. Patients may not remember what you said to them; patients may not remember what you did to them; but they always remember how you made them feel.
The amount of time the patient spends in the waiting corridor area plays a very important role in determining the outcome of patient satisfaction. With so many choices available, few people will stick to a doctor who has no respect for their time. The waiting time depends on a lot on factors, like the doctor's style of working, the kind of patients he or she sees, the locality where he or she practices, and the efficacy of the supportive staff.
This is perhaps the most important indicator to determine the patient satisfaction outcome. Improving the physician's interpersonal skills can increase patient satisfaction, which is likely to have a positive effect on treatment adherence and health outcomes. Doctors frequently end up prescribing more and talking less to the patient. In one study, insufficient communication was recognized by psoriasis patients as a major cause of dissatisfaction with treatment. Typically, today's patients are more educated, computer savvy, and much richer.
It is essential to clear all their rightly or wrongly earned doubts with much patience and compassion. According to a National Research Corporation NRC survey, on a scale of 10, patients listed willingness to explain things as the most important criterion in selecting a physician. Other factors used in the study were reasonable fees, telephone access, friendly office, convenient appointments, and convenient location; the willingness to explain things was given a rating of 9. Successful education increases patient satisfaction and results in improved adherence to treatment and thus to a better outcome.
Various methods like verbal education, written information handouts, articles in popular magazines, etc. This is perhaps the most important among all the patient-related issues. The organization must respond to significant complaints and take appropriate actions; patients cannot be penalized for complaining.
All health care facility providers must document patient complaints and their responses to them. The TARP has conducted a survey of assessing the loss sustained by an organization to measure the financial consequence of dissatisfied customers. According to the report, if complaints are voiced in a year, for every complaint voiced, an additional 26 complaints are not voiced.
That means of the complaints, about are serious. Thus the financial implication will be too heavy for the doctor and the organization. Call Us : Toggle navigation. Gallagher Healthcare :: Industry Insights Blog. The Importance of Patient Satisfaction in Healthcare By Gallagher Healthcare Posted May 08, These days, delivering top-notch medical care involves more than just helping the patient get well — it also encompasses the overall patient experience.
Add comment Comment Preview. Notify me when new comments are added. Category list. Tag cloud. Reputation drives utilization. Utilization drives future utilization. Some aspects of reputation are more closely related to patient experience than others. The top five correlates, in descending order, are:.
It takes time for reputations to form and change, and there is evidence of lag-time in the relationship between patient experience and hospital reputation. Correlations are strongest when patient experience is measured at the first time, and reputation is measured at the second time and six months later.
This lag relationship indicates that the quality of the patient experience being administered in a hospital today is significantly related to the reputation of that hospital six months from now. Facilities delivering poor patient experiences are four times more likely to have poor reputations than facilities delivering good patient experiences.
Bad news travels fast and wide. In order to improve a poor reputation brought on by a poor patient experience, facilities would be wise to turn their attention inward and focus on improving the experiences they provide their patients.
We have a roadmap. The figure below is designed for healthcare leaders who would like to explore potential improvement strategies based on where their facilities are situated on the continuum of patient experience and reputation.
While all strive to be in the top right category, scoring well on both patient experience and reputation, the reality is that the majority of facilities will find themselves located in one of the other three groups.
Facilities in the top or bottom groups on the left side would do well to focus on the patient experience first and foremost. Facilities in the bottom right quadrant high quality patient experience, but with reputations not reflective of that , should put resources into spreading the word and advertise the strength of their patient experience.
Conclusion Learn more To get an in-depth look at understanding the link between the patient experience and the hospital reputation, click here to view the executive summary for this research brief. Sound off As a healthcare provider, how are you making sure your patients are having a positive experience? What does your hospital reputation mean to you? Tell us in our comments section below.
May 12,
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