It is thought that improving communication between patients and healthcare practitioners will have some positive effects, including better patient compliance, lower costs, and better clinical outcomes. In addition, there are procedures to alter physician behavior and hold them responsible for enhancing the patient experience.
The patient experience of care and patient satisfaction are top priorities for healthcare institutions. Since it contributes to 25% of a hospital’s Value-Based Purchasing(VBP) score and has the potential for a penalty or bonus, patient care experience is a crucial quality domain used to assess hospital performance.
The patient retention strategies can appear like a changing target influenced by different things. There are no widely agreed definitions of patient experience or satisfaction, although health systems have been discussing and emphasizing these topics for a long time. For instance, vendors of patient satisfaction surveys employ different terminology, which causes different patient interpretations. Additionally, the market lacks definitive studies demonstrating the links between patient happiness and results. And given the number of resources devoted to enhancing patient satisfaction, it’s understandable why healthcare executives would like to comprehend the relationship between
Patient Experience’s Main Initiatives – Image from pixabay by fernandozhiminaicela
What Are The Patients’ Desires
Consumer-centricity is still a new idea in healthcare. “Consumer-centric” has become a great but challenging aim because of the complexity of the services, payment methods, and even the emotions involved.
Health systems and practitioners will stop viewing the consumer healthcare route as just a collection of services and procedures when they begin to consider the motivations of patients and the work that needs to be done for them. Instead, they’ll start turning healthcare more toward the patient.
The first phase is to review a limited perception of healthcare, such as sitting with a specialist in an exam room. Next, the profession must consider the entire range of activities people engage in to maintain and develop their physical and mental health.
Customers find it difficult to start and maintain healthy eating and exercise habits. The 9–5 weekday routine makes it difficult to fit medical care into their hectic schedules. They don’t know how their choices now about their health will affect them financially tomorrow. Additionally, they are being pressured more and more to navigate the process for their elderly parents, themselves, and their children.
With a wider lens, it becomes obvious that the most important consumer health concerns are frequently never addressed inside most medical facilities’ four walls.
Let us look at the top patient retention initiatives that can improve the healthcare industry:
-
Your Practice Should Appear And Feel Interesting.
Before they even meet you, patients will already be evaluating your operation. A well-designed, patient-friendly website that provides information about your firm’s mission, the qualifications of its doctors, the range of services it provides, office hours, and its locations is the first step in creating a positive first impression. A map and directions to the clinic and interactive features that provide patients access to more information via pull-down menus are important. Additionally, a portal where current patients can send money, book follow-up consultations, and connect via secure email is significant.
Remember that a welcoming clinic also counts on an attractive, spotless, and cozy office with amenities.
- Respect And Give Patients Your Full Attention.
From when a patient arrives for a scheduled appointment to when he leaves, managers, doctors, and employees must all share a commitment to giving patients the concentration they require. It should be done at each touchpoint of their stay. Please ensure that all employees have received the necessary training. This will help them to regularly deliver the high level of customer service set forth by your manager. Hold them responsibly. This entails assessing how well you are keeping your pledge to provide care and service. Patient post-encounter conversations, dispute procedures, and patient satisfaction surveys can all be used to achieve this.
Healthcare firms are becoming more aware of and knowledgeable about how patient rentention is impacted by employee engagement.
In order to improve the patient experience, from facility design to employee training and engagement initiatives, many hospital companies have established the position of Chief Patient Experience Officer. These organizations have realized the critical link between engagement, job satisfaction, and happy patients. The patient experience will suffer without an engaged workforce, the appropriate systems and tools for making data-driven decisions, and a culture committed to attaining the Triple Aim. Positive patient satisfaction ratings reflect well on a company’s entire operation.
- Boost Communication Throughout The Whole Patient Visit.
This entails returning calls, introducing yourself to clients, and being eager to respond to their inquiries. Never say no to a patient; instead, gather the necessary information. Smile and maintain good eye contact. Your patients may give you hints, so pay attention to them. Reassure them if they appear restless; if they appear anxious, be reassuring and assured. Finally, ask the patient if there is anything else you can do for her today before ending your interaction with her. The success of your job and the patient’s experience depends on each team member prioritizing the patient’s requirements.
Patient Experience’s Main Initiatives – Image from pixabay by herbert11timtim
- Make Accessibility Your Main Focus.
A well-run appointment scheduling software with practical templates is the first step in this process. It entails comprehending demand and getting ready for it by scheduling good appointments based on previous same-day demands. It refers to beginning and finishing on time. Furthermore, it entails keeping the office and phone lines accessible throughout lunch. This can be achieved by evenly distributing physician and staff personnel’s work schedules.
Additionally, ensure responsibility by monitoring patient access. For example, recognize when the following appointments are available. Demand communication from your appointment task scheduling when things change and appointment requirements are being jeopardized. Your practice management system and EHR can provide important performance information. Every month, run system audits and examine them. This adds the crucial accountability that aims to enhance the patient experience and the level of service your practice offers.
-
Ensure Punctuality
Calls should be returned promptly; patients shouldn’t be left on hold for longer than 30 seconds. Additionally, be prompt in answering calls and emails within the expected time limit. Finally, inform patients, employees, and clinicians of the set period. This emphasizes accountability once more.
Patients who are kept waiting for appointments frequently experience the worst delays. Let them know how long they should expect to wait once you check them in immediately. The majority of practice management software provides for patient tracking starting at check-in. Staff members must be aware of and consistently apply this feature. Some fantastic tools offer reports, assess workflow performance, and aid in finding snags that keep patients waiting unnecessarily. As a result, everyone has the chance to enhance the patient experience and flow.
What you don’t measure, you can’t manage. It is time for your clinic to recognize the relevance and gauge its effectiveness if other people gauge your performance based on the patient experience. This necessitates a commitment from the medical staff, and it will enhance patient outcomes.
-
Utilize Patient Satisfaction As A Balancing Factor—Not As A Motivator For Results
It seems like a common sense strategy to enhance the patient experience and outcomes. For example, a patient is more likely to follow treatment suggestions if she has positive feelings about her doctor and the care she is getting. However, a patient could have a good experience but still get a bad result, like a cancer diagnosis. Therefore, health systems should use patient happiness as a counterbalance indicator rather than as a result driver. Balance measures enable health systems to improve the quality of care without losing track of potential drawbacks.
Healthcare organizations can ensure that gains in one aspect don’t negatively influence other areas. For instance, the length of stay(LOS) in labor and delivery is the outcome measure if a health care system intends to decrease LOS. However, increasing LOS harms patient experience if mothers feel hurried toward discharge. Another illustration is when a health system modifies the heart failure order set. To make sure the new, evidence-based order set doesn’t have a detrimental effect on the patient experience, a patient experience balance metric is incorporated.
-
Understand And Take Action On Data With Healthcare Analytics.
Systems won’t enhance the patient experience unless they comprehend, use, and take action on customer satisfaction data. In addition, electronic patient feedback systems and communication tools to notify personnel is also available.
Patient apps and enterprise data warehouses are used in healthcare analytics to find significant connections between patient experience, clinical results, and employee happiness.
Data on patient satisfaction can help with more than just the patients’ satisfaction or a particular episode of care. Integrating patient satisfaction and healthcare data into an EDW makes widespread information exchange across all clinical applications. Accessing and comprehending patient satisfaction data as it applies to appropriate care delivery is made simple by analytical systems and tools. They also allow the use of data as a balance measure and integrate it into the everyday routine.
-
Utilize Cutting-Edge Technology
Technological advancements are completely transforming the patient experience in healthcare. As a result, healthcare businesses can utilize cutting-edge technologies to enhance patient outcomes, from interactive technologies that facilitate wayfinding and lessen visitor stress.
Conclusion
Healthcare organizations continue to change how they view the patient experience, viewing it less as a legal necessity to be satisfied and more as a key sign of how well-rounded a healthcare institution is. A wonderful patient experience is influenced by everyone and everything inside a healthcare system, from the admissions clerk to a clean room—driven by the entire health system’s infrastructure. So it goes beyond just the patient-clinician relationship.
