Healthcare organizations’ success depends in large part on patient satisfaction and patients’ perceptions of healthcare staff and the facility in which they receive care. Learn what factors contribute to positive patient satisfaction, how to measure it, and what levers are available to improve it. Boost your hospital’s patient satisfaction scores with these five methods.
Factors That Contribute to Patient Satisfaction
Hospitals and healthcare systems can increase patient satisfaction by focusing on a few key areas:
- Expectations
- Time
- Appearance
- Perception
- Quality of care
How to Measure Patient Satisfaction
Healthcare organizations can solicit feedback and measure patient satisfaction several ways, including:
- Written surveys, like HCAHPS or Press Ganey
- Phone inquiries
- Focus groups
- Personal interviews
Implement These Solutions
Patients want to be taken care of, and healthcare workers want to meet their needs. Patients who know their caregiver is concerned for their well-being have more positive healthcare experiences. Put patients at ease and improve patient satisfaction with these five simple solutions:
1. Meet Expectations
Understand what patients expect of their visit; some patients are looking for information, while others need assurance or a specific action. Make eye contact, use the patient’s name, and remember the power of a smile. These simple details go a long way to put patients at ease. Every staff member on the floor should wear a name tag, especially your physicians. Make it easy for patients to know the name of who is caring for them without having to remember everyone’s name.
2. Devote Quality Time
Patient satisfaction rates are directly related to the length of one-on-one time physicians spend with a patient during each visit. A study from Statista suggests that 27% of America’s physicians spend 12 minutes or less with their patients. Encourage physicians and nurses to spend more time in the exam room and see an improvement in your satisfaction surveys.
3. Improve Appearances
Always ensure impeccable cleanliness standards at your facility. A tidy appearance is a clear indicator of quality and is an evaluation point on HCAHPS’s perspectives of care survey. Focusing on maintaining a spotless environment will also reduce healthcare-associated infections at your facility, thereby improving a patient’s overall experience.
4. Raise Perceptions
Work to improve your medical center’s atmosphere by upgrading the decor to create a warmer environment. Also make sure to place sanitation stations throughout common spaces. Work with environmental services to regularly sanitize high-traffic areas – this ensures patient safety but also has a positive impact on patients’ perception of cleanliness, which can impact HCAHPS scores. If possible, tackle noise pollution to promote a more relaxing experience that promotes rest.
5. Communicate Clearly
Provide people with a positive experience by clearly explaining yourself. Offer actionable and practical advice and include your patients in the decision-making process. Allowing them to express their ideas will help them feel more engaged and accountable for their healthcare.
It also vastly improves their perceptions of your facility’s quality of care. Give them easy to understand and clearly written documents to take home, such as written visit summaries, educational materials, and instructions that they can refer to whenever they have a question.
Sincere and consistent performance is the best way to improve overall patient satisfaction. Consider these five ways to upgrade your hospital’s service and stay focused to realize noticeable improvements.
