Free Download: Enhance your Patient Experience program by using these major PX trends. Increase Patient Satisfaction. Reduce Churn.Â
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Being the heart of healthcare, patient experience has become a top priority for most hospitals nowadays. With the changing consumer landscape and the rapid shift from volume to value in the healthcare sector, patient perceptions are now influenced by multiple factors across the continuum of care. The question at the forefront of experts’ minds is – how to improve patient experience in this consumerist era of healthcare?Â
Improving patient satisfaction may usually spark a stakeholder pushback which leads to common myths or misperceptions. Succumbing to such misconceptions could affect the overall quality improvement initiatives, thereby deteriorating the performance of the healthcare provider. Let’s take a look at such myths associated with patient experience:Â
Most patients care about the relationships they have with the healthcare providers rather than the amenities offered. While there might be only a few patients who are concerned about amenities (like bells, whistles, or cafeteria menu), most of them are influenced by factors like effective communication with nurses & staff, pain management, timely care & assistance. So, staff helping patients at the time of discharge and nurses listening to patients or explaining them healthcare concepts helps to boost care experience scores.
As healthcare experiences are considered to be relatively more important than the experiences of non-health-related services, the average response rate to user satisfaction surveys in the healthcare sector is high. According to an NRC health study, approximately 83% of patients prefer to fill out a survey within a few days after the event. Also, 87 % of the survey respondents (patients) praise the clinician’s courtesy while 53% of them experienced positive communication with the staff.
It takes a few seconds for a clinician to connect to the patient, no matter what is the mode of connection or the length of the conversation. It’s the quality of connection that helps to uncover the patient’s emotions during their hospital stay. As patients feel scared most of the time, making them feel safe is crucial to enhance their healthcare experience.Â
As businesses go above and beyond for optimizing their customer experience, the healthcare providers regularly monitor their patient satisfaction levels for gaining their trust & loyalty. With this transformation from provider-centric roots to a patient-centric culture, the healthcare industry has come a long way. This change is the reason behind the shift in viewpoint, i.e. from a conventional patient to patient as a customer. So, how to optimize the patient experience while adapting to this change? Here’s what you need to consider:Â
As health procedures might have a physical and emotional impact on the patients, do not get so involved in daily processes that you overlook the patient’s condition. Stepping into the patient’s shoes will help you realize what they are experiencing. Also, engaging in unscripted and light-hearted conversations with patients will help to serve them better.
Engaging in dynamic conversations is essential to deliver individualized patient care. Instead of asking patients if they have any questions or a close-ended question (which is a basic yes or no), you need to ask open-ended questions, i.e. what concerns do they have. This indicates that you want to holistically address the issues related to patient’s health & wellness.Â
Delivering a respectful and consistent experience is crucial in every bit of the patient’s visit. Instead of merely focusing on discrete situations like greeting patients at the reception or at the time of discharge, you need to improve their experience across all facets of healthcare.Â
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Enhance your Patient Experience program by using these major PX trends. Increase Patient Satisfaction. Reduce Churn
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Being a powerful influence on consumer behavior, the desire for convenience is highly valued. As consumers are busy and want to access care when & where it suits them, offering convenience is the only way to seamlessly connect with them. With 51.3% of consumers stating that convenience & easy access to healthcare is the most critical factor in decision-making (as per NRC Health’s market insights), there’s no denying that convenience is the king in healthcare. Moreover, 80% of patients are likely to switch providers since they prefer care which aligns with their elevated expectations – in terms of convenience and ease.
As consumers seek transparency in healthcare costs, almost 50% of them prefer the healthcare providers to supply the cost information, according to Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Likewise, 22.7% of patients put off their “necessary medical treatment” due to their inability to pay for the services. The deferment of care is not only posing a threat to the healthcare system but also negatively impacting the patient’s health.
Want to measure and improve the patient experience of your healthcare system? Get in touch with Voxco to deliver patient-centric care with powerful, omnichannel surveys.
You can also check out our Patient Experience Hub and get a jump start on measurably improving the quality of your healthcare services.Â
Sahaj Sharma is a content marketer at Voxco. Owning a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering, he loves exploring digital industry trends and creating content to help businesses shape their market presence. Apart from content creation, the other three things that vie his mind share are fashion, food, and travel.
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