How To Increase Patient Satisfaction?

Patient Satisfaction

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Patient satisfaction is an important goal for all medical practitioners. That is because it is not just a simple metric that is used to make directors in hospitals happy. This factor alone is super important because when patients are happy and satisfied, they turn into promoters who can spread the good word about the healthcare service. Patient satisfaction also shows that the quality of healthcare service is improving which automatically improves a hospital’s financial performance as well. Patient satisfaction is easier to achieve when healthcare workers make it their top priority and focus on the well-being of their patients.
However, despite putting in the best effort to prioritize the well-being of their patients, it is common for healthcare providers to face challenges that can interrupt their focus and shift their attention elsewhere. One of such challenges is the constant change in technology and updating their healthcare systems accordingly. The popularity and wide adaptability of advanced digital tools like cloud storage, video conferencing software, and the latest hospital IoT devices bring the healthcare providers under pressure to stay up to date with competitors and this may divert attention from actually focusing on patient care.

Patient satisfaction can be improved with simple adjustments to the patient experience..

Educating Your Patient

According to the research, patient satisfaction and the value they feel they are receiving from their visit are directly correlated. Healthcare providers can improve this perceived value by adopting a patient-centered care method and educating their patients. Simple education measures include giving out informative handouts, sending them follow-up emails, and most importantly, listening carefully in order to completely address their patients’ questions during their visits.

Upgrading Processes and Systems

Many factors contribute to patient’s satisfaction or dissatisfaction before they even get to talk to one of your team members. One of these is failure to meet a patient’s expectations. For example, scheduling an appointment can quickly become a pain point for patients if hospital systems are outdated and difficult to use. While healthcare historically lags general consumer experience, leaders like online merchants and technology enabled services become the yardstick of patients’ expectations. A hospital that wants to improve patient satisfaction will invest in digital systems to make processes intuitive and easy for the patients to use. For example, adapting Hucu.ai as the main platform of communication in your healthcare facility can drastically improve communication effectiveness.

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Hucu.ai is a FREE HIPAA compliant Healthcare Messaging App.

Asking for Feedback

A healthcare provider will have a certain number of dissatisfied patients despite putting in the best efforts. In such a case, a healthcare provider can make it easy for such patients to voice out their concerns constructively and effectively to mitigate the effect of their bad experiences. Creating digital surveys communicates that you care about what they think and are trying your best to improve your care service. Another way is to always have a customer care representative available for a chat at the healthcare facility. When patients are dissatisfied, they want to be heard. Creating an easy feedback loop can also encourage them to stay your customer. Of course making visible improvements based on feedback will go even further than listening.

Hucu.ai makes follow up with patients quick and effective.

Following Up with Your Patients

Once the patient has visited you, following up with them is another way to drastically improve their level of satisfaction. For example, sending them an email to check on their medication dosage, sending them promised materials, giving them soft reminders, and giving helpful advice are all the ways you can make your patients feel valued and cared for. The more relevantly you do this, the more they are likely to make referrals and promote you. If you have a large influx of patients and it is difficult to follow up with them, then perhaps you would like to automate your workflows. Automated emails or messages can send patients helpful materials while reducing the amount of time you or your team spends on follow-ups.

Strictly Protecting Confidentiality

Protecting a patient’s privacy and medical information is not just a moral obligation but also a legal one. When healthcare providers fail to do this, this can have a major impact on your business in two ways. First, you could be heavily fined for HIPAA violations. Second, and more importantly, you will lose the trust and confidence of your patients and have a negative reputation in the market which will prevent you from getting more customers. Protecting patient data is one factor that can make or break your business.

Being Honest and Transparent

Being honest and transparent is a very low-cost effort that healthcare providers can continue to make to improve the patient experience. If patients have to wait an hour before they get to meet you on a hospital visit, it is a good idea to warn them. Such honesty will allow them to readjust their expectations from you and reduce uncertainty. It will also impact the overall experience they have while visiting you.

Effective Communication

Patients often feel most dissatisfied when it comes to communication. When patients find it difficult to communicate with you, they feel very dissatisfied. Asking them key questions is a good way to improve healthcare communication between your office and your patients. For example, how easy was it for the patient to find contact information?

Thanks to technology, communication is much easier these days. Our healthcare application, Hucu.ai is built especially to solve communication problems in the healthcare industry. Hucu.ai brings patients, providers, and families together to communicate in real-time with each other in a HIPAA compliant platform. Hucu.ai is HIPAA compliant instant messaging through which patients can speak with their care team members remotely at any time of the day. Care team members can also update friends and family of patients about their progress. Additionally, hucu.ai allows care team members to communicate amongst themselves for quick feedback, notes, care transitions, and emergencies. Check out this page to get more information about Hucu.ai can improve patient satisfaction.

See also  Communication in Patient Centered Healthcare: Importance and Best Practices
Sources of Information: medicaleconomics, jotform

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