Our Patients’ Experience Why It Matters

Why does patient experience matter?

It matters because the patient is the center of the care we provide.

We can continue to offer great care only if we continue to have patients!

Did you know? Patients find it easier to evaluate the quality of the service they receive than to evaluate the quality of the care they receive. Therefore, quality of service may play a bigger role in their choice of physician and practice. And if the service isn’t great ...

Even if we provide the highest quality of care … If the patient perceives poor customer service, it could have a significant, adverse impact on the practice. For example…

Jane Jackson, a 45-year-old wife and mother of two, comes to the clinic for shoulder pain.

Once inside, Ms. Jackson finds the receptionist sending a text message and receives no greeting or help for several minutes.

Ms. Jackson knows there are other options in town, so she doesn’t tolerate the poor service. She walks out the door.

Once she leaves, she won’t come back … and it’s not just Ms Once she leaves, she won’t come back … and it’s not just Ms. Jackson the practice loses as a patient …

Remember, Jane Jackson is a wife and mother of two Remember, Jane Jackson is a wife and mother of two. If she has a bad experience, she won’t hesitate to take her family elsewhere for healthcare. That one poor customer service experience can prove costly.

Jane’s healthcare costs for the year are significant because she needs: • Initial shoulder checkup and x-ray • Follow-up visit for injury and supplies • Annual preventive exam • Acute visit to walk-in clinic • Flu vaccine

Her 47-year-old husband needs: • Annual preventive exam • Flu vaccine

Her 13-year-old son needs: • Annual preventive exam • Sports physical • Acute visit to family physician • Flu vaccine

Her 15-year-old daughter needs: • Annual preventive exam • Sports physical and second HPV vaccine • Acute visit to family physician • Third HPV vaccine • Flu vaccine

What did that one bad customer service experience cost the practice? How many people did Ms. Jackson tell about the poor customer service? How many patients will never come to the practice as a result of that one bad visit? When you have a bad experience somewhere, how many people do you tell?

Think about it … If Ms. Jackson had walked out of our practice, how much income would we have missed because of that one bad patient service experience?

Who could a patient possibly deal with during a visit? Medical records Nurse Medical assistant Phlebotomist Locum Tenens or other contracted temp worker Physician Any of the clinic or contracted staff Radiology staff Administrator Billing Information desk associate Receptionist Mid-level providers

Many people interact with a patient before, during and after a clinic visit. Just one poor exchange with someone in our clinic could turn a patient away. This could even be before the first visit, as a result of a call to the practice. Every contact with a patient or patient representative is important and should be treated as such!

It doesn’t stop with one family An average dissatisfied patient tells 25 others about the negative experience. For every patient who complains, 20 other dissatisfied patients don’t complain. Of those dissatisfied patients who don’t complain, 10 percent will return while 90 percent won’t. It costs 10 times more to attract new customers than it does to retain current ones. An average dissatisfied patient tells 25 others about the negative experience. For every patient who complains, 20 other dissatisfied patients don’t complain. Of those dissatisfied patients who don’t complain, 10 percent will return while 90 percent won’t. It costs 10 times more to attract new customers than it does to retain current ones. Zimowski, HFMA Journal 2004 Rubin, et. al. JAMA 270

Times are changing National healthcare focus has shifted to put a greater emphasis on accountability. Patient satisfaction ratings, such as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicators, are public information and readily available online for potential patients to view and compare.

Patient experience strategy 22

Strategy We should identify customer service as one of our key priorities. Great patient experience is important to our patients and to our bottom line. We should identify patient service issues and address them. Are there gaps or inconsistencies in our service? Are there things that frustrate our patients that we don’t know about?

Our plan of action Collect information from patients about the customer service we provide Celebrate high marks from our patients, and take steps to improve service issues Do it again and again, so our service gets better and better

Expectations of the team If asked, agree to serve on the patient satisfaction work group, to be formed soon. Work group will collect first round of patient satisfaction information. All of us will review the collected information. We’ll celebrate areas of good service – and develop improvement projects around areas that need help.

Questions? Comments?