For example, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, which emerged out of the Affordable Care Act, is designed to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience. The reimbursement a hospital receives from CMS depends in part on its scores on the best-known patient satisfaction survey, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS). “One goal of the Affordable Care Act was to create a more consumer-driven healthcare purchasing experience,” Kennedy said. To that end, she explained, CMS has made hospitals’ patient satisfaction scores—along with mortality and infection rates, and a number of other quality measures—publicly available to patients. “All of that information, as well as paying more out of your own pocket, helps you as a consumer make better healthcare decisions and spend your dollars more wisely. The end result, hopefully, is to provide higher quality care at a lower cost.”
Communication’s role
But what, exactly, will make for satisfying patient experiences? Ramanujam says that healthcare providers often focus their efforts incorrectly. “Doctors think patients are going to be more satisfied if the process is efficient. And yet when you talk to patients, one of their expectations is, ‘We would rather spend more time with the provider, talking about our condition and learning more about it,’” he said. “It seems like it’s about time, but it’s really about communication.”
And studies have repeatedly shown that good communication—from doctors and other medical staff—is vital to patient satisfaction. Effective communication even leads to better patient outcomes, a major feature of value-based care evaluations.
While traditional research has focused primarily on doctor-patient communication, Kennedy pointed out that responsiveness and empathy from non-clinical staff—mainstays in customer service—are particularly important in stressful healthcare settings. “Staff who work in housekeeping or appointment scheduling also are on the front line interacting with patients. They have many opportunities to connect, improve the overall patient experience, and impact the financial health of the organization long-term,” she said.
In addition, a 2016 Accenture report found that 51% of patients would switch healthcare providers to receive great customer service. And a 2016 study found that 96% of online patient complaints are related to quality of service, rather than medical care. (53% of those, the largest category of complaint, were about communications issues.)
Putting it all together
“How are we delivering on value? It’s through people,” said Tim Vogus, a professor of Management at Vanderbilt who studies the importance of compassionate behavior—towards both patients and staff—in healthcare organizations. “And if that’s getting lost, any pursuit of value is not going to be sustainable.”
We may understand that patient satisfaction figures into the complex calculation of value, but that doesn’t mean that we’re working to satisfy patients in the most efficient ways. Patients want to be healthy, of course, but they also want to be heard and understood. They want to be treated with courtesy and attention. And they want clear, empathic communication from their healthcare organizations. “It’s not necessarily more attention than we should have been paying all along,” Vogus said. “If you want to deliver high-quality care, it was always essential.”
