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Medical Services Consumers – What Matters Most to them?

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I had the opportunity to deliver a presentation at #Cosmedicon2019 in the “Business of Beauty” workshop.

 

The paper discusses what defines “The Patient Experience” and looks at data from a recent international survey by the Beryl Institute:

“Consumer Perspectives on Patient Experience”.

 

To get the ball rolling, I posed three questions to the audience:

  •  Has the business of Aesthetic Medicine become more competitive over the past 5 years?
  • Do you expect it to become even more competitive in the next 5 years?
  • How do you propose to maintain a competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive business environment?

 

For a copy of the presentation, please email me at:

info@insightpss.com.au

 

 

Advice for Doctors…from a Patient

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We just had to share this.

A reminder of how it feels to be a patient, reliant on the empathy and patience of their doctor.

 

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Exciting New Feature – Adding Photos to Patient Feedback Surveys

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We’re delighted to bring you news about an exciting new feature available on our Patient Experience Feedback Programs.

When your patients just can’t find the words to express how over the moon they are about their results, now they can actually show you.

The brand new “Photo Upload Facility” allows patients to attach a picture when completing their survey response. These might be images of post-treatment outcomes or happy patient lifestyle shots (e.g. selfies) etc.

INSIGHT clients who currently use their Access Portal to review individual survey responses, can then download the photo and retain it in their patient files or potentially use it in your social media marketing (subject to industry regulation).

JPG and JPEG file types can be uploaded.

Note: This new feature is available at no additional cost on all our online Patient Experience Programs.

 

Please contact us if you’d like to discuss adding a Photo Upload to your patient survey questionnaire.

Our article recently published in Aesthetic Medical Practitioner magazine.

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Consumer Perspectives On Patient Experience in Medical Practices.

New Study Data.

AMP 2018 Perspectives on Patient Experience

 

2018 Patient Experience Consumer Study

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(Just released by The Beryl Institute)

Healthcare professionals have taken major steps to understand, measure, and improve the Patient & Family Experience. But do consumers really care about this?

The Beryl Institute’s inaugural consumer study explores consumers’ viewpoint on healthcare and the patient experience and how this fits into their broader set of expectations around health and healthcare delivery. The first of its kind global research, the study engaged 2,000 respondents from five countries representing four continents sharing insights from consumers of care on the patient experience – its importance, critical factors and value.

 

According to the research:

  • Consumers confirm patient experience extremely important to them overall
  • Patient experience is personal and connected to how people view their health outcomes overall
  • Consumers affirm human interactions most important to them in assessing patient experience, followed by processes and then place.
  • Of greatest importance to consumers is how they are connected with as human beings with a focus on listening, communicating clearly and being treated with dignity and respect
  • Consumers confirm they see experience as the integration of all they encounter in healthcare from quality and safety to service, cost and more
  • People easily recall their healthcare experiences, especially those positive in nature, and the top thing they do, for both positive and negative encounters, is tell others.
  • Patient Experience is significant to the healthcare decisions of consumers
  • Recommendations and referrals far outweigh everything else in making health decisions and choices.

 

http://www.theberylinstitute.org/?page=PXCONSUMERSTUDY

Online physician reviews don’t reflect responses in patient satisfaction surveys.

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A follow-on to our previous article:

Physicians who receive negative reviews online do not receive similar responses in rigorous patient satisfaction surveys, according to new Mayo Clinic research.

“Our study highlights the disconnection between industry-vetted patient satisfaction scores and online review comments,” says Sandhya Pruthi, M.D., an internal medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, who is the senior author. “Patients need to be aware of these distinctions as they make decisions about their health.”

“Physicians also need to be aware, as they manage their online reputations.”

 

Read the full story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180402123254.htm

 

 

Patient Experience: “The Waiting Room versus the Treatment Room.”

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Whilst researching for a medical conference presentation, I came across some interesting information regarding the causative issues behind complaints posted in online patient experience forums.

The study conducted by Vanguard Communications and published in the (U.S.) Journal of Medical Practice Management, essentially concluded that 96% of complaints faulted the “Customer Service” not the “Quality of Care”. 

“An analysis of nearly 35,000 online reviews of doctors nationwide has found that customer service – not physicians’ medical expertise and clinical skill – is the overwhelming reason patients complain about their healthcare experiences on the Internet.” 

“The study reveals that only 1 in 25 patients rating their healthcare providers with two stars or fewer is unhappy with his or her physical examination, diagnosis, treatment, surgery or health outcome.” 

“The other 96 percent of patient complaints cite poor communications, disorganization and excessive delays in seeing a physician as the cause for dissatisfaction.”

Complaint Factors

“Our study uncovered a torrent of patient allegations of doctors running behind schedule, excessive waiting time to see a provider, billing problems, indifferent staff, and doctors’ bedside manners. The nearly unanimous consensus is that in terms of impact on patient satisfaction, the waiting room trumps the exam room.”

 

The study’s author does make a valid point that online reviews of specific physicians or clinics don’t provide a scientific or fair sample upon which to draw conclusions and base decisions. Practices that aim to provide high standards of customer care generally employ their own direct feedback process to monitor satisfaction and improve performance.

The study was designed to gauge to what degree patients were focused on customer experience issues (which are systemically fixable) versus medical treatment.

As such, the evidence appears conclusive that problems patients are most likely to share online, overwhelmingly relate to the “Administrative” functions and interactions of medical practices. 

 

 

 

 

Cosmedicon 2018 is just 2 weeks away.

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This year’s Cosmedicon is being held at Sydney’s InterContinental Hotel Double Bay, from the 15th to 18th March.

 

The two-day scientific program will feature prominent international and local thought leaders delivering their insights and practice pearls on the most relevant and cutting edge techniques and products in minimally invasive cosmetic practice, including facial rejuvenation, body sculpting, skincare and laser.

The post-conference full-day program, the ‘Business of Beauty’, delves into the practicalities of running and managing a successful business and will feature business strategies, practice management pearls and new techniques at the intersection of beauty and cosmetic practice.

 

I’m very excited to be presenting a Patient Experience Case Study at Cosmedicon and honoured to be also chairing several of the sessions at this prestigious event.

 

One thing in particular to keep an eye out for will be the announcement of results from a new survey of “Australian Consumer Attitudes to Non & Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures.” The data gleaned from this will be invaluable marketing intelligence for anyone involved in cosmetic medical industry.

 

Looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues at the conference.

 

Impact of the first greeting on patient experience

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A short article describing the personal experiences this patient encountered with two different medical practices.

Well worth a couple of minutes to read.

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The greeting.

Such a small thing, but a wide lens to what a patient’s experience might be like during a visit to the doctor. Greeting the patient – is critical to influencing the patient’s perception and expectations about the care they will receive.

Read on here:

You had me at Hello

New study reveals experiences of radiology procedures.

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Newly released original research provides valuable insight into the real-life experiences, perceptions and recommendations from 600 patients who recently underwent an imaging procedure using CT, MR, diagnostic X-ray or molecular imaging technology.

 

It’s a struggle for radiology services to balance the complexities of running an efficient and high-quality imaging service, while ensuring that patients get the best experience.

Philips recently published a study about the patient experience, surveying more than 600 American and German patients about their journey through the imaging process. While the results weren’t shocking, they’re still good reminders about what’s important to patients, how they perceive their treatment by medical staff, and their process in radiology’s care.

 

While 77% of patients surveyed rated their overall experience as very good or excellent, deeper insights reveal where and how imaging can be made better for patients. Of their priorities, patients cited the following needs as very important or extremely important:

  • 71%   It’s important that I trust my referring doctor
  • 69%   I want an effective scan with minimal dose
  • 67%   I want the right image the first time to reduce repeat scans
  • 58%   Minimal wait times to receive results

 

You can download the free Philips research study here:

https://www.healthsystems.philips.com/LP=1154