As a physician, you quickly learn the importance of bedside manner and interacting with patients in your care. Whether it’s putting his or her mind at ease or giving them stern directions in order for he or she to get back to health, you’re often focused on your own experience with patients. One of the biggest issues that plague many hospitals and practices is a poor patient experience. The decisions regarding health care are influenced by the feedback they hear from their peers. This means that if a patient has a bad experience, it might affect the future of your practice. This is exactly why debunking patient experience myths will help you and the rest of your staff figure out exactly how to provide not just stellar care, but stellar interaction with your patients.
Debunking Patient Experience Myths
HCHAPS Only Effects the Hospital As a Whole
HCAHPS (the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) is a patient satisfaction survey required by CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) for all hospitals in the United States. The survey is for adult inpatients, excluding psychiatric patients. This is used to gauge the consumer experience whenever a patient gets treatment at a hospital or healthcare facility. While many assume that this is just simply a way to rate the facility itself, it can actually have a major impact on physicians. These scores can also affect how much funding a healthcare facility receives and therefore could play an impact on a physician’s salary.
Only Millenials Will Use Technology to Talk With Patients
With the rising use of telecommunication in the healthcare field, many physicians assume that only millennials will adopt these new forms of technology. A study by athenaResearch found that older people are just as likely to use online patient portals as younger people are. And since they are using smartphones in large numbers, they will be just as likely as younger people to expect health-related information from their physicians that is accessible by mobile device. When thinking about patient experience myths, don’t judge your patient before interacting with them. They might just surprise you.
Only Chronic Patients Want to Engage With Physicians Regularly
When it comes to patient experience myths, many physicians assume that only chronic patients want to return to the hospital on a regular basis. However, while patients with chronic health conditions might have the most pressing reasons to communicate regularly with healthcare providers, all patients want to engage more with their physicians.
Hospitals and health systems should not deploy systems that prioritize any group of patients over another. Most patients hope to build a strong enough relationship with his or her physician so they feel like they can come to them with any ailment. Obviously, you never want to open the door to patients making an appointment for every scrape or bruise they might get, but they shouldn’t feel guilty for making follow-up appointments and check-ins. An EHR is also a great way to keep track of patients and open the door for those looking to communicate with their physician. A low-risk patient can turn into a high-risk patient, and care teams always aim to stay ahead of that.
If you have other ideas on how physicians can maintain good bedside manner and improve the patient experience, tell us!
