Get to the heart of patient satisfaction with better communication

Deb Beaulieu

Last week, I wrote about the importance of patient satisfaction, among other things, in protecting a practice's bottom line. But "patient satisfaction" is one of those topics that is easy to give lip service to without really understanding what it means. Several of the articles in this week's FiercePracticeManagement cover research into what makes patients tick, at least when it comes to making the choice to visit one medical provider over another.

Judging by some recent trends in healthcare, including retail clinics, telemedicine or a combination of the two, we can surmise that patients place increasing importance on communication, convenience, time and cost transparency. Serving as an umbrella source on all of these elements, we have the "2011 Press Ganey Pulse Report" (pages 39-43), which serves up a host of new data to reinforce the idea that physicians and medical practices need to personalize their interactions with every patient.

According to Press Ganey's more than 3 million survey responses from 721 facilities, patients' top priority regarding whether they'd recommend a health facility to friends and family is a medical practice's sensitivity to their needs, followed closely by patient satisfaction with the care provider. All high-priority items share a theme of communication and encouragement of patient engagement, according to the report.

To succeed in these areas, Press Ganey consultants wrote that practices need to understand a patient's culture, develop a relationship with the patient's family or caregivers and address any unique communication needs individual patients may have.

It's interesting to note that a separate analysis of unsolicited online patient reviews this week suggests that most (69 percent) patients are satisfied when it comes to these interpersonal issues with their doctors. But even out of this self-selected panel, a 31 percent dissatisfaction rate leaves plenty to be desired.

And like the review of the Yelp and RateMDs postings, the Press Ganey survey also looked at systems-based drivers of patient satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In particular, wait time stands out as a leading irritant among patients who author negative online reviews. And the Press Ganey survey illustrates how profoundly wait time affects patients' overall satisfaction with a practice. Not surprisingly, patients who waited fewer than five minutes gave practices satisfaction scores that were 10 points higher than those who waited 30 minutes or more.

An encouraging tidbit from the Press Ganey data, however, is that strong communication about wait times appeared to ameliorate much of patients' frustration. According to the report, posting wait times in the reception area helps establish patient expectations vastly, while also encouraging physicians and staff to improve. In some cases, just posting the wait times helped reduce delays.

Whether you conduct patient satisfaction surveys or not (in which case, I assume you plan to), take a moment to assess your practice on the strength of its communication alone from as many angles as you can think of. For instance, do you have protocols in place to ensure patients understand the medical information you provide? Do managers clearly communicate expectations with employees? Do they focus exclusively on what needs improvement or do they commend successes? On a very basic level, is everyone in your practice honest with patients? Then think about the ways you're communicating well and how they benefit your practice. Next, start the conversation about any weaknesses and develop a plan to do better. - Deb @PracticeMgt