How Can We Improve Patient Satisfaction?

Patient satisfaction is the focal point of healthcare. It ’s the ultimate way to measure the effectiveness of a facility and the quality of practitioners. High patient satisfaction means strong patient retention and reduced risk of malpractice. Over the years, facilities have started to take patient satisfaction more seriously. A clinician’s CMS reimbu rsement depends on patient satisfaction scores via the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Poor HCAHPS scores result in loss in funds for both facilities and underperforming physicians. However, constant innovation and strong communications are ways to m aintain high patient satisfaction in the radiology department.George Washington University Hospital ’s division director of radiological operations, Mark S. Lerner, RT, has implemented AIDET, a patient satisfaction model. The program stands for: Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank you. His technologists are instructed to greet their patients by making eye contact and using t heir name. They then tell the patient their background, training, and skill set. Lerner advises technologists to give transparent explanations of the imaging exam process and expectations and the physician’s timeline. There’s a strong element of graciousness in these patient interactions, and at the end of the visit, technologists thank the patient and his or her family members for choosing the hospital.Similarly, at the University...

Source: radRounds - June 24, 2017 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs