Summary Of The Problem With Satisfied Patients By Alexandra Robbins

Healthcare is in a constant state of change with movements that impact rates, access and quality of care. Hospitals have become more competitive due to the rising cost of care delivery and the reduction in reimbursement from payers. This causes difficulty in delivering quality care to all patients, which is being measured by mandated patient perception surveys, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS). HCAHPS scores are part of value

With patients today using the threat of reporting low satisfaction rates in the hopes of receiving faster or higher quality care, they seem to have taken the upper hand in some of the decision making of what will take place in the healthcare world (Sullivan). But is it really the survey results that will make the drastic changes that are needed?

​The highest priority in most hospitals across America is patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction begins the moment the patient steps in the hospital doors although nurses hold a majority of the responsibility. The face to face interactions between nurse and patient on a day to day basis naturally puts nurses at the front line. Nurses are there to answer questions for the patient’s while making them as safe and comfortable as possible. There are a lot of factors to take in to account while determing satisfaction in the hospital. A common debate in the medical field is if there is an

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.

Patient satisfaction may be defined in any number of ways and these scores are often publicly reported as a way to help patients choose among health care providers. The scores are measured by the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey (HCAHPS). HCAHPS is the first national, standardized publicly reported survey of patients’ perspectives on hospital care (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2014). A report by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2014), states that until HCAHPS, there was no national standard for collecting and publicly reporting about patient experience of care that allowed valid comparisons to be made across hospitals, locally,

In years past, the hospital experience has been a big issue when it comes to the quality of healthcare. Most hospitals that don’t meet national standards included lengthy stays, several misjudgments and holes in prevention control. In general they have lacked patient respect, according to medical historians and health care professionals. However, these issues have improved substantially over the years. Because of cultural shifts, policy adjustments, healthcare prices, and technological advances, hospitals have moved toward a more patient based approach that emphasizes the importance of prioritizing prevention in all cases. Patient satisfaction is now a priority in healthcare nationally.

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

I am going to play devils advocate a bit here in regard to health care centers using patient satisfaction survey measures to improve the quality of care they provide to patients. Of course nurse and patient satisfaction surveys play an important role in keeping health care providers accountable for the patient care they deliver and ensuring nursing staffing levels are adequate to guarantee patient safety in medical settings. However, having worked in the health care arena for fifteen years, there are times that patient satisfaction survey metrics can be detrimental to health care providers’ careers and the quality of patient care delivered. For instance, Robbins (2015) explains sometimes health care providers will go out of their way to give patients what

This project has the potential to improve patient satisfaction, staff satisfaction, and 30-day readmission rates. In addition, increasing patient readiness for discharge will decrease adverse outcomes for patients with diabetes.

The cost of healthcare continues to rise all over the world. The United States’ is one of the highest spenders compared to other countries. The rising cost of healthcare does not mean people are getting higher quality care. People deserve high quality care at the lowest possible price. Medicare and Medicaid have very strict guidelines and pay hospitals a fraction for poor outcomes (Wilson et al., 2013). Nurse have always been on the forefront of patient care. They have the ability to change patient outcomes. CNL are currently leading improved patient outcomes, patient satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.

Rama M, Kanagaluru SK. (2011) A STUDY ON THE SATISFACTION OF PATIENTS WITH REFERENCE TO HOSPITAL SERVICES, International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research, Vol.:1, NO. 3

It is nearly impossible to discuss nursing without talking about the patients for which nurses care. The perceived quality of that care has been a consistent topic of concern for the healthcare industry. Patient satisfaction has been shown to affect some of the most important aspects of healthcare including: patient outcomes, job satisfaction, patient retention, reimbursement, and accreditation (Prakash, 2010; Tinkham, 2014). In fact, healthcare executives have consistently placed patient satisfaction at the top of their priority lists (API Healthcare Corporation, 2015; Bees, 2015). Furthermore, there is a strong association between nursing care and patient satisfaction (API Healthcare Corp., 2015). Surveys, and therefore interventions, have often targeted nursing along with other aspects of the healthcare model including physicians, pain management, communication, environment, transition of care, and more (Medicare.gov, n.d.; Downs, Standish, & Allred, 2012).

On a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means “extremely dissatisfied” and 10 means “extremely satisfied” how satisfied are you with the ease of accessing care during your visit today?

Although the Patient Centered Medical Homes health care model has been setup with a mission of organizing a critical care for patients and building better relationships that physicians could teach gain additional knowledge on what a patient is going through with their conditions. “David Keepnews (2013) reports Satisfaction has traditionally been measured with a variety of instruments and methods, with little agreement or consistency regarding how to interpret findings, how to utilize them, or even what is being measured. Despite this, providers of health and health-related services have devoted considerable resources to collecting and analyzing satisfaction data. Satisfaction scores have been used to identify quality problems and target interventions

Measuring patient satisfaction is important in assessing healthcare outcomes due to the growing emphasis on greater partnership between providers and consumers.