Improving Patient Satisfaction Patients

Patient satisfaction is a driving force in today’s health care system. Incorporating the patient in their care will help with the patients healing process as well as encouraging the patient to be more compliant with their prescribed care. Bedside reporting is a practice that some organizations have incorporated in their standards of care. The patients care does not stop when the nurse’s shift ends. Therefore, it is important for the patient’s information to be conveyed accurately to the oncoming nurse. Conducting shift reports at the bedside allows the oncoming nurse to both visualize and interact with the patient much sooner than if the nurse had received report in another manner. Furthermore, bedside reporting allows the patient to interact with both nurses; and allows them to see that their care is being properly managed. This type of reporting also allows the oncoming nurse to ask questions, as other methods of shift reporting limits the oncoming nurse from interacting and asking questions of the off going nurse. Patient satisfaction as well as accurate transfer of information and patient safety is a crucial part in providing quality patient care.

The need to improve quality in health care is increasing and a major component of quality health care is patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction is critical to how well a patient does and research has identified a clear link between patient outcomes and patient satisfaction scores. Patient satisfaction can be an indicator of provider performance and an important dimension of value-based health care under the Affordable Care Act.

Surveys are often used to evaluate systems within health care entities. Such objective data is often used by leadership within an organization to evaluate the effectiveness of organizational systems and processes. Suppose there was a recent decline in patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and culture of safety surveys. As an innovative healthcare leader, how would you approach addressing this recent data?

At UCF Community Care Center, our main focus and concern is our patients. Our main goal is to ensure that each and every one of our patients is satisfied upon leaving our office. “Patient satisfaction is an important and commonly used indicator for measuring the quality in health care. Patient satisfaction affects clinical outcomes, patient retention, and medical malpractice claims. It affects the timely, efficient, and patient-centered delivery of quality health care” (Prakash, 2010).

Patients are the most important individuals to any hospital system. Consumer awareness is at an all-time high, and the health care sector is not exempt from scrutiny. Ensuring patient satisfaction has become a strong focal point of many hospitals; they want patients to have a stellar experience from check-in. Overall, patient satisfaction is the key to maintaining a harmonious hospital-patient relationship. “A patient’s expression of satisfaction or dissatisfaction is a judgment on the quality of hospital care in all of its aspects. Whatever its strengths and limitations, patient

At times, with certain things, my patience level is not as high as it should be. I tend to want things right in the moment. Even though I am not patient, it can still have a good impact on my work. Because I am not the most patient person, once I start working on an assignment or something, I always am impatient and want to finish it right there and then. This could be seen as a good attribute because I always finish work quickly once I have started it. This could be a good asset to your company because there are many people out there who are very relaxed and take long breaks on work. I am the complete opposite of those people, and I am impatient when completing work and wanting to finish it quickly.

Another example is card system. In 2003, united health care group introduced the electronic medical ID cards for members. It helped all health care providers and health care facilities to access the patient’s benefits information’s and their claims histories with in few seconds. This information can support hospitals and other health care facilities, so they can able to save millions of dollars. (Unitedhealthgroup.com, n.d).

The majority of people rely on healthcare professionals to support their well-being and their health. With over one billion visits to the physician's office annually in the U.S. alone, patient to health care professional interaction is common and important in having the highest quality of health possible. The Institute for Healthcare Communication states that “ Extensive research has shown that no matter how knowledgeable a clinician might be, if he or she is not able to open good communication with the patient, he or she may be of no help.” A strong relationship between health care provider and patient is essential to achieve the best possible health care.

Patient Satisfaction Coordinators (P.S.C.) are amongst the vast majority of employees who have been acknowledged as an instant asset to Medical Facilities. Worldwide hospitals are noticing these leaders, along with the sky rocketing differences in patient care ratings, which lead to government funding, leaving them wondering “What’s your facility’s secret?” Realizing the importance of investing in a dedicated position or team in satisfaction in hospitals through examples of organizing, modifying, and developing the quality service the coordinator would deliver that goes above and beyond the patients’ expectation, medical facilities nationwide have begun to invest in this position.

Advancements of technology continue to change the landscape and infrastructure of health care delivery in the United States and around the world. The healthcare industry has embraced advancements in technology and integrated computerized systems in an effort to improve patient satisfaction, quality, and performance. Telehealth is a form of healthcare delivery that provides immediate access to health services to rural populations, patients that are not able to physically attend medical appointments, and remote locations around the world. Healthcare organizations are embracing telehealth because of its features to include virtual consultations and remote patient monitoring systems that do not require patients to leave home. In

Patient satisfaction is considered an important element of the quality of healthcare, a leading indicator of patient outcomes and a top priority for hospitals and providers. There is an increased need to improve quality in the delivery of healthcare services, partly due to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services pay-for-performance reimbursement methods. Adjustments increasing to 2% in 2017 will affect more than 3000 acute nursing facilities nationwide. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services uses the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey that measures ten specific aspects of a patient 's care, and results are reported publicly. There has been a great deal of discussion for and against the survey on all levels of healthcare. Research indicates that a customer service approach is the leading indicator of patient satisfaction. A better customer service approach is the product of satisfied employees. Nurses play a significant role in the customer service approach, including advanced practice nurses.

In these current times of health care, patient satisfaction and safety are imperative in order for care to be provided. Hourly/Intentional rounding amplifies the nurse-patient relationship, continuity of care, safety, and service excellence. Intentional rounding or rounding with a purpose can be a success as long as nursing staff have a better understanding and take ownership of the practice. Leadership and nursing staff need to collectively cognize each other’s role pertaining to the delivery of care regarding this practice. The purpose of this piece is to delve into why hourly rounding is important and grasp the positive along with barriers of the routine.

This theme was related to the purpose of analyzing the factors that influence patient satisfaction. One explanation for the results that were found is that patients in higher intensity regions tend to receive more discretionary health services, compared to patients in lower intensity regions. This also may explain why a higher mortality rate is among the most satisfied patients. Overall, this study is suggesting that patient satisfaction may be a marker for illness because patients who rely on their physicians more tend to report a higher satisfaction rating (Fenton, Jerant, Bertakis, & Franks,

Chapter one in our textbook briefly discusses health care data sets for benchmarking. One of the categories it mentions is patient satisfaction. Patient Satisfaction has always been a priority for healthcare facilities in providing quality care to patients. However, it now plays an integral role in the financial aspect of healthcare. According to our textbook, “CMS partnered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to develop the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), ‘the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patient’s perspectives of hospital care’ (CMS, 2012). Since 2005, the government has created several financial incentives for hospitals to participate in HCAHPS

Advancements of technology continue to change the landscape and infrastructure of health care delivery in the United States and around the world. The healthcare industry has embraced advancements in technology and integrated computerized systems in an effort to improve patient satisfaction, quality, and performance. Telehealth is a form of healthcare delivery that provides immediate access to health services to rural populations, patients that are not able to physically attend medical appointments, and remote locations around the world. Healthcare organizations are embracing telehealth because of its features to include virtual consultations and remote patient monitoring systems that do not require patients to leave home.