How to Increase Patient Satisfaction
Looking to increase patient satisfaction in your hospital, clinic, or medical facility? Don’t rely on questionnaires or shallow patient-pleasing. Try following effective patient-satisfying procedures and techniques to truly improve their experience at your facility. Here are some tips:
Surveys Don’t Say Everything About Patient Satisfaction
Patient satisfaction is a hard thing to calculate. Trying to understand it through questionnaires or surveys can result in more problems than solutions. Much of the difficulty in this method comes from the patient’s inability to distinguish care from service. They’re not equipped to tell good medicine from lackluster or bad medicine. As a result, when patients are asked to rate the quality of their care, they’re more likely to think of factors like food quality, interactions with healthcare workers, and comfort. In other words, dignified treatment. If a patient feels like they were treated with respect and concern, they’re more likely to rate highly.
Why Is Patient Satisfaction Important?
Even though patient satisfaction has little to do with medical treatment, it’s still a powerful, determining force in the industry. Positive patient satisfaction has dollars behind it. Patient-satisfaction scores are commonly used to determine individual provider pay. If a doctor or hospital receives consistently high marks, they have a strong case to charge higher rates.
How to Increase Patient Satisfaction and Medical Care Quality
Here are some ways to truly improve patient satisfaction and experience:
Effective Communication
Patients have concerns and fears that they want information and reassurance about. This is particularly true if medications are given or procedures recommended. It’s easy to be intimidated by busy doctors or nurses. Sometimes effective communication is held up because patients are too nervous to speak up when they have concerns. Because nervous or anxious patients will likely keep their mouths closed, pay attention to their body language. If they look like they’re holding back, give them some time to settle. Then, have a friendly face ask if they really understand everything that’s going on. This extra step will demonstrate real concern for their comfort.
Comfortable Accommodations
Unwanted stress does not help the healing process. Unlike physical strain during therapy or discomfort during treatment, abnormal stress can be detrimental to treatment. For this reason, your patients should be as comfortable as possible. You can achieve this by providing:
Quality gowns and other garments
Comfortable, professionally cleaned linens
Well dressed, professional-looking staff
Safe, secure mats where useful
FDR Services Provides the Best
Your medical facility’s linen and uniform provider should make your job easier. That means organized efficiency, quality materials and results, and top-notch customer service. Your provider should understand the importance of patient satisfaction, and work with you to achieve that goal. FDR Services is that provider. Give us a call at 1-800-FDR-0097 or request a quote here. We look forward to helping your medical facility today.