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What Patients Want in 2021

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This recent US study reveals the latest patient preferences and habits related to choosing a provider, receiving care, and communicating with a practice.

 

Key findings from the survey report include:

  • Most patients look online to find healthcare providers. Three of four people have searched online to find out about a doctor, a dentist, or medical care. Sixty-one percent do so either sometimes or often.
  • Reviews are the most influential online resource for patients. When choosing a healthcare provider, 74 percent of patients find positive online reviews very or extremely important. Sixty-nine percent say they will not consider a healthcare provider with an average star rating lower than 4.0 out of 5.
  • More than half of patients prefer a digital connection for five key interactions with practices. At least 51 percent of patients favor digital interactions when scheduling an appointment, filling out forms, asking a provider a question, paying a bill, and accessing health records.
  • Patients prefer text messaging for appointment communications. Two-thirds of patients prefer text messages when receiving medical appointment reminders. Also, 59 percent would like text message reminders to book their next appointment.  
  • There has been a notable level of patient attrition at practices. More than one-third of patients say they have left a healthcare provider in the past two years. Eight of 10 say they did so because of a poor in-person experience, and/or lack of access and communication with their provider.

Read the complete study report: 2021 Patient Perspective Survey Report | PatientPop

Is patient loyalty enough?

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Loyalty

An excellent article, recently published in Aesthetic Medical Practitioner Magazine.

 

“Today’s level of professional competition has never been seen before in the aesthetic market. Consumers are more discerning than ever before, and relying on patient loyalty is no longer enough to keep your practice successful. By taking time to understand consumer motivations, having the right staff on board, demanding professional excellence and investing in ongoing education, you can create a patient-centric practice that will both attract and retain patients.”

 

The solution to such a challenging outlook? Create a patient-centric practice and continually ask yourself the question: “What can I do for the patient?”

 

We couldn’t agree more.

 

Read the entire article at:

https://aestheticmedicalpractitioner.com.au/features/cosmetic-practice/is-patient-loyalty-enough/

 

Use Patient Preference to Improve Patient Care Through Technology

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Software advice

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: It is absolutely imperative for medical practices who depend on Medicare reimbursements to strive to improve patient experiences through whatever means necessary if they hope to succeed in the world of value-based care.

Software Advice, a company that helps businesses navigate the software buying journey, released findings from its latest survey on improving patient care through technology. The study uncovered trends related to patients’ opinions, preferences, and expectations around three major, emerging healthcare technologies: telemedicine, artificial intelligence (AI), and electronic health record systems.

The study found that the use of AI-based technology within a medical practice is rapidly becoming an important selection criterion for patients, as 64 percent of patients stated they are more likely to choose a provider that uses AI-powered tools over one that does not.

Telemedicine services and insurance benefits top of mind for patients

Telemedicine is in high demand for enhancing the patient experience, reducing the need to travel and minimizing risk of exposure in hospitals and clinics. The survey revealed that 84 percent of patients are more likely to choose a provider who offers telemedicine over one who doesn’t.

AI is revolutionizing patient-centered care

The use of AI-based technologies in healthcare is becoming more prevalent, as nearly a third of all respondents (31 percent) stated they have interacted with AI-powered chatbots on provider’s websites to get questions answered or virtual nurses that take patient histories ahead of exams.

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https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/improve-patient-care-through-technology/

 

 

Business of Beauty Program at #Cosmedicon2020

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Medical profits

Really looking forward to joining a group of highly regarded presenters at the Cosmedicon “Business of Beauty” seminar: Sunday 8th March 2020 at Hotel Intercontinental Double Bay, Sydney

Lots of expert advice on medical practice management issues, such as:

  • Business & Financial Planning
  • Social Media Marketing
  • Human Resource Management

http://www.cosmedicon.com.au/

 

I will be facilitating a workshop on “Solutions to Common Patient Experience Issues”.

Here’s a teaser.

Workshop Program Teaser

 

How Can Clinicians Teach, Learn Provider Empathy, Compassion?

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Grounding provider empathy training in genuine feedback will help drive compassionate care.

 

In healthcare, it might be time to reconsider how to think about empathy. As more industry experts underscore the importance of compassionate care, developing new ways to train, and therefore look at, provider empathy will be key.

 

Data shows that empathy and compassion are two of the leading factors patients consider when evaluating their doctors.

A 2018 survey from HealthTap showed that 85 percent of patients value compassion in healthcare when ranking their doctors. Just as many value quality care and provider expertise.

Providers who deliver compassionate, patient-centered care tend to see better relationships with their patients, better adherence to treatments, and better outcomes. And even when outcomes suffer due to medical error or factors outside the provider’s control, empathy can go a long way in improving a patient’s perception of care.

 

Read more of this  incisive article by Sara Heath at:

https://patientengagementhit.com/news/how-can-clinicians-teach-learn-provider-empathy-compassion

 

 

 

When Good Customer Experience Surveys Turn Bad.

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how does it works

 

Is there such a thing as a ‘bad’ Patient Experience Survey?

 

You betcha!

Over the years, I’ve seen the good, the bad and the simply appalling.

 

Not too long ago, I had a minor surgical eye procedure which entailed multiple preliminary visits for scans and consultation, followed by a rather scary operation and post-op consultation. During the final visit, I was asked to fill out a “Patient Satisfaction Survey” form. Being in the “biz” I figured I ought to walk the talk and contribute to the cause.

 

Still with a patch over one eye, I was handed a dog-eared 6th generation photocopy of a two page form with over 30 questions and responses, which I was expected to complete under the watchful eye of a member of the practice staff. Apart from; being almost illegible, the intimidating circumstances and the poorly worded questions, I duly completed the form and watched in amazement as the staff member placed it in an open file tray on her desk.

 

I was left with the overall impression that the practice was merely paying lip service to the idea of asking for patient feedback. If they actually took it seriously, they would surely not be taking such a cavalier approach.

 

So what makes for a bad survey?

  • Convoluted survey instructions.
  • Too many questions.
  • Irrelevant questions.
  • Poorly phrased questions and loaded response options.
  • Failure to ask the questions about what matters to the customer.
  • Lack of opportunity to provide qualitative commentary.
  • Over-emphasis on certain aspects of the patient journey, to the exclusions of others.
  • An overriding impression that it’s just an afterthought and not being taken seriously.

 

A 2016 US study of online reviews of medical practices found that 96% of complaints found fault with the customer service – not the quality of care.

That was certainly my own experience at that eye clinic, though I doubt the questionnaire I completed will have any impact whatsoever.

 

 

Do satisfied patients and engaged staff impact on healthcare business profits?

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Medical profits

Well, according to an article recently published in Harvard Business Review, it would seem that they do… and very much to the positive.

 

https://hbr.org/2019/05/when-patient-experience-and-employee-engagement-both-improve-hospitals-ratings-and-profits-climb

 

When Patient Experience and Employee Engagement Both Improve, Hospitals’ Ratings and Profits Climb

Health care executives know that patient experience and workforce engagement are intertwined, but few providers integrate and analyze these data to really understand the connection. Management tends to take it on faith that improving patient experience and enhancing employee engagement are good ideas — but faith alone doesn’t always lead to appropriate prioritization if it isn’t accompanied by insight into how issues relate to bottom-line performance.

When organizations have invested in comprehensive data collection for a few years, they see a time-lapse view of their performance that demonstrates whether it is improving. Leading organizations are taking it a step further, leveraging the data to understand how improvement on patient experience and/or employee engagement correlates with broader organizational performance.

Our latest research shows that hospitals that improve over time in distinct HCAHPS survey measures of patient experience or employee engagement also see improvement in patients’ global ratings of their care.

Further, the data reveal that there can be a compounding effect when organizations improve in both experience and engagement measures.

What’s more, we found a pronounced association between improvement in overall hospital rating and financial performance: for every one-point increase in hospital rating we saw a 0.2% increase in net operating profit margin.

When we removed critical access hospitals from the data set, every one-point increase in hospital rating was associated with a 0.4% increase in profit margin. In this scenario, a five-point increase in hospital rating correlates with a two percent profit-margin increase.

 

Given the sweeping and unstoppable market forces exerting pressure on health systems and hospitals, evidence of the compounding effect of patient experience and employee engagement on business outcomes should command the attention of health care leaders. The follow-on imperative is to home in on the key structure and process elements that drive better performance in both domains.

 

 

Exciting New Feature – Adding Photos to Patient Feedback Surveys

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Selfie 1

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.

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