“I’ll know it when I see it.” We know what we like, but sometimes we just can’t find the words to define it.
Some healthcare executives feel that way about the patient experience. And if you can’t define it, you’re going to have trouble providing it.
The Beryl Institute, a well-respected thought leader on improving patient experience in healthcare, defines the patient experience as “The sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care.” The sum of all interactions? Workplace culture? Patient perceptions? Where does a facility even begin and what does that even mean?
Patients no longer view successful outcomes as the great differentiator when making their healthcare choices.
Great results are expected, so patients are looking far beyond the clinical aspects of care for their satisfaction.
The patient experience is more about the perception of the quality and value of every clinical and non-clinical interaction a patient has, many of which take place before they ever put on a patient gown. This isn’t just a first impression rose – it lasts for the complete duration of the patient-provider relationship.
To further define the patient experience, we need to approach it from a patient perspective. I’m a patient, and I recognize that healthcare is highly emotional. I don’t feel good. I’m sitting half naked with strangers in a gown that opens everywhere except where it’s supposed to. I’m scared and often overwhelmed. Patients and their families are at their most vulnerable when at the doctor or hospital. But how do we know what’s good for us? How do we know a good patient experience when we see it?
Clinical Outcomes are clearly important. I want to know that I received the most appropriate care and achieved the best results possible. I don’t want the wrong leg amputated, a cancer missed or my ailment mistreated. Decades ago this wasn’t always a given. Now quality clinical outcomes are routine and expected. But I want more. SO much more.
I’m a Person, not a medical records number. I want my healthcare provider or HCP to know who I am, and what I need as an individual. My formal name is Catherine, yet I go by the name “Katie.” Very little makes me feel less valued than a HCP who consistently gets that wrong. Unless you’re my mother and about to ground me, please don’t call me Catherine. It’s Katie.
Membership required. Consider my family and me as the center and key members of the healthcare team. Everyone else are spokes on the wheel. I want to feel like you encourage my participation in the decision making process and will honor my opinions when possible. Let me define who my “family” is, and you welcome them into the fold.
Accessibility and Dependability put you at the top of my list. I need to be able to reach someone readily, get appointments in a timely manner and access my test results and medical records easily, and preferably electronically. Please don’t skimp when it comes to investments in processes, patients and technology. You’re losing it on the other end, I promise you.
Privacy matters. Asking “what brought you in today” in front of an entire waiting room of patients, as you hand me my HIPAA notice, doesn’t make me feel safe. Other patients don’t want to hear about my yeast infection, and I don’t particularly want to tell them about it. Have methods in place that assure me that my personal information (and dignity) are secure.
Knowledge is Power. When I have information and resources at my disposal I feel in control, and I’m happier with my care. Most people are scared of the dark, including me. Shed some light with the tools I need to see, and wrap my head around what is happening to me. This can be achieved through one-on-one interaction, written information, appropriate referrals or patient education videos. Information can be streamlined in a compassionate way that can impact your bottom line (and that of your patients) in a positive way.
And Speaking of Compassion…kindness matters. I require and deserve a good level of customer service. Staff should be helpful, polite and courteous from the person who answers the phone to the doctor who sees you in the ER to the guy in the hairnet serving food in the cafeteria. Nothing can sour my experience more quickly than a rude receptionist or a HCP who treats me like a number. Empathy and good communication skills from all employees goes a long way towards making me forget you’re sticking a needle in my arm.
Care Coordination is the way to my heart. For those of us with a lot of doctors, nothing endears us more to a care provider or facility going out of their way to consult with the rest of your providers about a new treatment, medication or condition. I once had a doctor tell me to leave messages for the rest of my doctors about my newly diagnosed heart condition, and call him later to let him know what they said. Uh…Doc? Don’t wait up.
Comfort and Cleanliness should be a given, but often aren’t. Certain amenities and swag like pianos in the lobby are nice, but can’t be considered an appropriate substitute for the other components of an excellent patient experience. The environment should be clean and make patients feel at ease. If there are opportunities to respond to needs of patients that are currently unmet, take those into consideration as well. Your office, your facility, how your employees are dressed leave a huge impression on me. Get the small stuff right, and I’ll trust you to handle the big stuff.
Employee Engagement helps make for happy and engaged patients. Staff who feel emotionally attached to where they work and who they work for can have a significant impact on how I feel about my visit or stay. Have you ever stood at a check-out desk and heard two employees complaining to each other about a fellow staff member or worse yet, a patient? How are you engaging your employees, and instilling pride and passion in what they do? It must be part of your office or hospital’s culture and be just as important as your conversations about budgets and patient safety. I need you to have an emotional connection to the work you do and with me. If you want a patient relationship with me, it has to be the way you do business every day of the year.
So, maybe I’m a high maintenance patient. Or maybe I’m just a girl who knows what she wants. Consider the cost of merely giving good clinical care and ignoring the rest of what comprises the patient experience. Unsatisfied patients are more likely to be negative on social media and definitely aren’t apt to recommend your facility to family or friends. Patient loyalty? Forget about it. And we’re more likely to sue. You might even take a hit on your HCAHPS scores. You can’t afford not to listen.
Most of us want to receive care in a setting where we feel free to speak up and where communication is easy, open, and honest. We long to fully participate in our healthcare with people that know us and are invested in our health and their jobs. And if we find that? We’re yours forever. That is the sum of ALL interaction, and that is the patient experience.