PATIENT SATISFACTION: THE INDISPENSABLE OUTCOME

why measure satisfaction when the health plans we contract with

already do it? How can we conduct a satisfaction survey that won't disrupt office work flow? How do we translate satisfaction findings into something that will make a difference?

Questions like these reflect just a few of the concerns that many facilities have about measuring patient satisfaction. While most large managed care organizations collect satisfaction data continuously for purposes of accreditation and quality assurance, the medical groups that contract with them often survey only irregularly, if at all. They often fail to realize the potential benefits of regular surveys. If not already, then very soon, this will be an area of concern for medical facilities as they are increasingly being held accountable for the satisfaction data collected by MCOs they contract with. Groups that do understand the advantages certainly face a number of challenges. Let's consider the growing importance of patient-satisfaction data for nursing facilities, and look at some innovative approaches that may help provider groups see satisfaction as a valuable management tool.

THE MEASURING STICK Patient-centered outcomes have taken center stage as the primary means of measuring the effectiveness of health care delivery. It is commonly acknowledged that patients' reports of their health and quality of life, and their satisfaction with the quality of care and services, are as important as many clinical health measures. Health care organizations and facilities are operating in an extremely competitive environment, and patient satisfaction has become key to gaining and maintaining market share. All major players in the health care arena use satisfaction information when making decisions. Also, because much satisfaction data reflects care delivered by physician and other provider groups, this information is receiving close attention from MCOs, consumers, employers, and accrediting organizations. The scrutiny is based on data collected by MCOs, which may or may not accurately reflect the care delivered by individual provider groups. This underscores the need for medical groups to collect reliable and unbiased satisfaction information from their own patients on an ongoing basis.

THE COST The reality is that medical groups face a number of challenges implementing patient-satisfaction survey programs. While most large health plans have the resources to conduct surveys or to hire vendors, measuring patient satisfaction can be costly for small practice groups, especially in the face of shrinking operating margins. Provider groups and facilities often lack the expertise necessary to plan and manage the task, and tight budgets may limit their ability to outsource. Other challenges include ensuring that data collection creates minimal hassle for practice staff, obtaining acceptable response rates and reliable data, properly analyzing and reporting survey findings, and translating findings into information that can be used for program planning and quality-improvement efforts. Recent technological advances provide managers with solutions to many of the problems associated with measuring satisfaction, including reliability and validity, use of innovative data-gathering technologies, improvement in measurement and statistical applications, and technologies that simplify development of interesting and effective presentations of survey findings.

PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEYING IS NOW A NECESSITY Facilities are now recognizes the importance of objectivity in satisfaction measurement and requires that satisfaction data used for health plan accreditation purposes be collected by an outside survey vendor. Finally, an outside expert can be expected to employ rigorous evaluation methods to ensure data quality and effective reporting of satisfaction findings. As we move into the future, the measurement of patient satisfaction is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity for medical groups and facilities. It is increasingly important that a patient-satisfaction program be done well, using sound protocol and methods. Survey findings can also be used for accreditation and marketing. In this era of increasing competition and high patient demand for health care excellence, medical groups and skilled nursing facilities cannot afford to forgo the insights they can derive from patient-satisfaction surveys.

Care Analytics is a tablet-based software that assesses skilled nursing facilities and provides feedback to make quality improvements for patient satisfaction in real time.

To advance the patient experience, providers must understand patient needs and address targeted opportunities within patient populations. Care Analytics provides meaningful and actionable insights into every aspect of patient perception. We work with facilities across the globe to collect feedback through real-time point of care tablet based assessments. We provide straight-forward steps focusing on the key drivers of exceptional patient experiences. Our model is based on the marriage of big data and years of experience with improving patient satisfaction

UNLEASH TARGETED INSIGHTS THROUGH ADVANCED ANALYTICS

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