Patients expect more from their medical care, and the medical industry is always looking for ways to deliver better patient care. One way to improve patient experience and patient satisfaction are by improving the electronic health records and software used. The results are apparent: More accurate, faster, and more reliable diagnoses resulting in better patient results.
However, not all hospitals can move to high-quality software quickly enough. Some are forced to wait for their software to be developed by third parties who can quickly improve. But the effect of having to wait for software development can be devastating to hospitals’ bottom line. A better patient experience, which results in fewer doctors’ office visits, is worth much less to hospitals if it cannot keep patients happy and on track with their healthcare. Waiting for software development to take longer can cost thousands of pounds per year.
Patient satisfaction goes hand in hand with hospitals’ profitability. Although improved diagnostic and treatment methods undoubtedly contribute to this, there are other factors at work. One area that has been shown to affect healthcare organizations is the quality of the people working in healthcare organizations. To achieve better patient experience and improved profitability, healthcare organizations must develop quality measures that drive employee engagement and high employee engagement standards and morale.
Currently, only a handful of healthcare employers have adopted specific metrics to assess their healthcare facilities. But given the focus on improving quality of care and implementing comprehensive workforce planning strategies that include quality indicators, there is no reason that these few providers cannot implement universal quality measures that would provide the same information as larger healthcare organizations. Large hospitals can obtain this information because they have a more extensive physician, nurses, and therapists. However, smaller hospitals cannot match this level of expertise without a similar investment of time, money, and labor force.
There are many advantages of implementing universal quality measures across all health care facilities. Overall, these measures would make it easier for healthcare organizations to identify problems more effectively and find quick solutions. These solutions also make it easier for healthcare workers to identify quality improvement opportunities and pursue them, paving the way for more excellent positive patient experience scores. This translates into higher patient satisfaction scores and, ultimately, better health outcomes.
Implementing a comprehensive quality program requires careful coordination between patient care teams and leaders in the organization. This includes the leaders of departments that will be assessing and implementing the measures. Although some departments may work more closely with others to implement the program, there is a need for standardized monitoring, reporting, and measurement. Also, there needs to be an effort to integrate the critical elements of the programs so that the different parts of the care team can understand what the outcomes are. Managers should not only encourage staff to report on their experiences; they should also take steps to ensure that they implement the measures as recommended and set higher patient satisfaction scores as soon as possible.
The implementation of a coordinated system requires a system of metrics to guide the progress of care delivery. For a better patient experience, the measures should be linked to the critical elements of the clinical practice and allow for the correlation of outcomes and care delivery. Ideally, all the components of the continuum should be correlated: diagnosis, care delivery, outcomes, social and educational support, and preferences and objectives. By modeling the continuum of the continuum, patient experience goals, healthcare workers will link their experiences to desired outcomes more effectively.
Surveys are an excellent source of information about patient satisfaction. Specifically, focus groups, focus group discussions, and chaps surveys are all excellent sources of qualitative information that can help shape the future of patient care. Achieving higher patient care delivery is a priority, and improving patient satisfaction should be an integral part of this plan.
