Patient Satisfaction

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. Patient satisfaction is thus a proxy but a very effective
indicator to measure the success of doctors and hospitals (Prakash, 2010).
Patient satisfaction is an attitude. Though it does not ensure that the patient will
remain loyal to the doctor or the hospital, it is still a strong motivating factor. Patient
satisfaction is only an indirect or a proxy indicator of the quality of doctor or hospital
performance (Tabbish, 2001; Technical Assistance Research Programs (TARP), 1986).
Delivery of patient-focussed care requires that we provide care in a particular way, not
just sometimes or usually, but always. It must be every patient every time.
It is an ironic fact - the better you are, the better you must become. Quality does
not stand still. It should be linear and always ascending. One should strive to provide
better care and soar above each and every patient's expectations. “A satisfied patient is a
practice builder” (Prakash, 2010).

To put it simply, patient satisfaction is an indicator of how well the patient is

being treated. The “how well” part refers not necessarily to the quality of care but to how
content a patient is with the care they received. Patient satisfaction is a growing factor in
the effectiveness of hospital care. More and more hospitals are starting to pay attention to
patient experience (Tsernov, 2017).

According to HealthLeaders Media’s 2013 Industry Survey, over half (54%) of

healthcare executives say patient satisfaction is one of their top three priorities.
A journey of an unsatisfied patient sounds like a mini-concert of The Rolling Stones —
from Dear Doctor to I Am Waiting to I Can’t Get No Satisfaction to, finally, Goin’
Home. It takes very little to make a patient go all the way from the first stage to the
fourth. Although it’s called patient journey, it’s the nurses and doctors who need to make
all the right moves. One single misstep, and it’s all over now. There’s a number of
reasons why patient satisfaction score should be among top priorities for every medical
facility. Let’s start with the obvious one (Tsernov, 2017).

In addition to being a requirement of accreditation, research indicates that

patient/customer satisfaction is important to the success of health care organizations as
businesses. (a) Satisfied patients will share their positive experience with five others, on
average, and dissatisfied patients complain to nine (or more) other people. The Internet
promotes rapid and wide dissemination of these opinions (Segal, 2009). This word-of
mouth marketing is powerful, especially as consumers grow more savvy about their
health care choices. (b) Because the cost of obtaining a patient is high, losing a patient is
a substantial loss of investment (Clarke, 2002). You may have attracted a patient through
advertising or an insurance contract. And for each new patient, you must establish a
patient record and gather payment information. Every interaction with the patient (e.g.,
reminder and follow-up calls), payer (confirming coverage, etc.), physician’s office
(obtaining files, results of physical, etc.), pharmacy (ordering or refilling a prescription),
or laboratory (following up on test results) represents a portion of your investment in that
patient. (c) There is evidence of a reciprocal relationship between patient satisfaction and
continuity of care (which is associated with better patient outcomes). Conversely,
dissatisfaction and complaints can mean not only loss of business/investment, but also
increased risk of malpractice lawsuits (Saultz & Lochner, 2005; van Servellen, Fongwa,
& Mockus D’Errico, 2006; Fullam, Garman, Johnson & Hedberg, 2009).
Accreditation, business improvement, and risk management are not the only reasons
patient satisfaction is important. Surveying patient satisfaction can offer patients an
opportunity to participate in their care by reporting their care experiences and building
engagement. The value of patient reporting has traditionally been questioned because of
the level of most patients’ clinical knowledge in comparison with that of providers.
However, this view may need to be reconsidered, not only because of the increased
socioeconomic importance of patients’ active involvement in their own health care, but
also because of the findings of: (a) reliable patient reporting for certain aspects of care
from specialist and primary care providers (Rodriguez, von Glahn, Chang, Rogers, & Safran,
2009; Hays, Chong, Brown, Spritzer, & Horne, 2003); (b) relationships between patient
dissatisfaction/complaints and poor outcomes(McGrath et al., 2004; Murff et al., 2006); and
(c) patients’ ability to accurately report their disease category (Bourgeois et al., 2007).
Patient satisfaction surveys represent real-time feedback for providers and show
opportunities to improve services/decrease risks. However, many organizations/providers
do not know how to use the patient satisfaction information they receive. This may be
because providers often seek yes/no responses or ratings on a Likert scale without asking
patients to report on their care experience Accreditation Association for Ambulatory
Health Care Inc. (AAAHC), 2015).

A Happy Patient Is a Loyal Patient

One doesn’t need to be a psychology expert to know this: Once a person receives
an exceptional service, that person doesn’t want to go back to the usual experience. In the
context of hospitals, a patient receiving services no other hospital can provide is less
likely to switch their preferred medical facility. Failing to meet a patient’s expectations
means losing this patient forever. And even if it’s only a single patient, that’s one patient
too many. In the USA, the loss of a patient due to dissatisfaction equates to the loss of
over 200,000 USD. Which means patient satisfaction is not just a bonus, it’s a solid
investment in the future of your own hospital. That being said, not losing a patient can
only get so far (Tsernov, 2017).

High Patient Satisfaction Pulls in New Patients

When it comes to our health, we tend to trust our relatives over any other
marketing channel. It’s the job of advertisements to sell something, and we see them as
such — marketing tools. But when we’re getting a personal recommendation, it’s another
story entirely. The psychology behind this is simple — we want to share our experiences.
On average, satisfied patients tell about their positive experience to five other people. It is
a double-edged sword, though. If you fail to meet your patient’s standards, be ready that
they will complain to 9 — or more — other people. While some may say it’s a high-risk,
high-reward scenario, if you’re approaching this matter logically, there are no risks at all.
The positive aspects of personal recommendations extend to social media and review
sites such as Yelp. The latter gives a lot of insight into the healthcare industry, as Yelp
reviews strongly correlate with the overall HCAHPS hospital rating. At the same time,
80% of the topics behind positive Yelp review are not mentioned by HCAHPS. These
topics include caring doctor, clear communication, and the level of comfort. By
delivering on these aspects, hospitals can build up their image among their patients and
pull in new ones. As a marketing strategy, word of mouth proves to be more efficient —
and less costly — than the usual tactics (Tsernov, 2017).

Patient satisfaction is a multi‐dimensional healthcare construct affected by many

variables. Healthcare quality affects patient satisfaction, which in turn influences positive
patient behaviours such as loyalty. Patient satisfaction and healthcare service quality,
though difficult to measure, can be operationalized using a multi‐disciplinary approach
that combines patient inputs as well as expert judgement (Naidu, 2009).

Patient Satisfaction Affects Clinical Outcomes

There is another important side effect of high patient satisfaction and good doctor-
patient communication. A study in the Academic Medicine observed how patients who
rate their doctor’s empathy high have better clinical outcomes. What do we mean by
clinical outcomes? In simple terms, it means that the effectiveness of your treatment
depends on how much you trust your physician. Which is to say, patient satisfaction is an
integral part of hospital care. In 77.8% of studies, patient experience was positively
associated with clinical effectiveness and patient safety. A 2009 medical review found
out a correlation between doctor-patient communication and the patient’s adherence to
treatment recommendations. This means patients are more likely to trust their physician’s
judgement when they feel more content with the care they receive. At first glance,
achieving high patient satisfaction doesn’t seem that difficult. There are certain tactics to
follow that are quite simple — or appear simple, anyway. Let’s dive right in (Tsernov,
2017).
Treating Your Patients in a Personal Way. To imagine a hospital while eyes are
closed, chances are, one might imagine a cold, unemotional facility that, hopefully, gets
things done and quickly moves on from patient to patient. A sterile, efficient place devoid
of anything that makes it stand apart. Perhaps this is why so many hospitals are afraid of
showing even a sliver of personality. But it doesn’t mean that they should be afraid of
being personal. Here’s the thing: doctors want to be respected. In fact, 61% of surveyed
physicians say that they seek respect from their patients. But respect cuts both ways. If
hospital workers want their patients to treat them the right way, they need to do the same
for their patients. Above all else, patients want to be treated like individuals and engaged
with on a personal level. Being personal is often seen as the antithesis of being objective,
but there’s no reason why doctors can’t be both. So what can you do to personalize your
patients’ treatment? Although it can be tricky to appear like you’re genuinely caring, the
least you can do right now is to stop appearing like you don’t care. Some things on this
list make you look cold and uncaring: (a) Refusing to shake hands; (b) Avoiding eye
contact; and (c) Not asking how the patient is doing. The importance of greeting your
patients is not to be understated. It is a simple gesture with surprising results. It reinforces
the feeling of closeness between a patient and a doctor, which helps start things off on the
right foot (Tsernov, 2017).
Happy Staff Means Happy Patients. While healthcare is not the first thing that
comes to mind when we think of “great communication”, communication is at the center
of it. During a typical stay in a hospital, a patient may interact with 50-60 employees.
Each of these interactions has an impact on the way this patient feels. When patients see
that nurses are in high spirits, they will start feeling the same. Should medical staff be
cold and unapproachable, patients will feel unwelcome and isolated. As it is, the hospital
setting induces anxiety and annoyance. 75% of frequent patients and 48% of regular
patients are frustrated with their care providers. There’s no need to further increase the
frustration by ignoring your patients. Patients want to see happy providers who attend to
them in an approachable, personal way. Give them such a service and, before you know
it, you will see how their attitude changes. After all, the best thing about smiles is that
they get returned. In fact, smiling is seen as one of the most important indicators of good
nursing skill. There is a clear correlation between staff engagement and patient
satisfaction. Being on good terms with your patients will not only improve their
perception of your care but also make them more likely to open up. In turn, this will
make your job easier, as you will know what to deal with and how (Tsernov, 2017).
Respecting Your Patient’s Time. Hospital visits aren’t exactly something we are
looking forward to. Everyone has a different reason to dislike being in a hospital:
emotionless staff, sterile environment, poor layout — the list goes on. But if there’s one
thing people universally agree with, it’s that long wait times are a bane of any hospital
experience. As a matter of fact, 97% of patients are frustrated by waiting in hospitals.
While this number is staggering, it is also understandable. Long wait times can sour any
experience, but when your health is on the line, every minute counts. Hospital visits have
become synonymous with long waiting. Some may even say it’s an intrinsic
characteristic of healthcare. But despite how used we are to spending much of our time in
hospital queues, it doesn’t help relieve the anxiety associated with it. This, in turn, hits
patient satisfaction (Tsernov, 2017).
What can hospitals do to address this problem? The solution is two-fold. First,
you need to minimize the frustration associated with waiting. Surprisingly, even
something as simple as a personal apology from the doctor is enough for 70% of patients.
Communicating the actual wait time minimizes the frustration for 80% of patients. It
helps keep the perceived wait time in check by letting patients know of their status in a
queue. The emotional side of the problem is easy to get sorted. Then, there is a technical
side. Why are hospital wait times so long? Rather than fighting with symptoms, you need
to address the cause. And the cause is obvious — an inefficient queue management
system. Time and time again we’ve spoken against sign-in sheets and hospital
appointments. The rest of the world is embracing technology, so there’s no reason why
hospital shouldn’t do the same. Queuing solutions are easy to implement, and the effect
of their use is apparent almost from the get-go. What’s more, the right queue
management system can help you make your services more personal and improve your
staff engagement. It’s a 3-in-1 solution tailored for great hospital experience (Tsernov,
2017).

Patient Satisfaction: An Important Factor for Hospital’s Well-Being

Patient satisfaction plays an ever-increasing role in the way hospitals are judged.
The perception of care is almost as important as the quality of care. Introducing these
changes to the hospital culture is difficult but necessary. Healthcare is an industry that
directly affects people’s lives at their most vulnerable moments. Making sure it does so in
a pleasant, satisfying manner pays off for everyone. “Making the world a better place”
may sound like your typical throwaway objective, but the point still stands. Everyone in
healthcare wants this world to be a happier, brighter place for all. And the first step on the
way to this goal lies through understanding patient satisfaction and putting empathy first
(Tsernov, 2017).

Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Inc. (AAAHC) (2015). The
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van Servellen, G., Fongwa, M. & Mockus D'Errico, E. (2006). Continuity of care and
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Fullam, F., Garman, A. N., Johnson, T. J. & Hedberg, E. C. (2009). The use of patient
satisfaction surveys and alternative coding procedures to predict malpractice risk.
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Rodriguez, H. P., von Glahn, T., Chang, H., Rogers, W. H. & Safran, D. G. (2009).
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Naidu, A. (2009). Factors affecting patient satisfaction and healthcare quality.

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