How Does Your Healthcare Brand Measure Patient Experience?
Patient experience is a term that encompasses many different aspects of the journey to receiving healthcare, and this ubiquitous theme can yield major consequences if a brand does not get it right. Whether it is a hospital, insurance provider, physical therapy center, etc., patients have service standards that are above and beyond what they were in the past. Unlike older generations, people are now willing subvert the traditional doctor-patient relationship if they are not satisfied with the experience produced by their healthcare provider. As a result, healthcare brands must consistently measure their patient experience, with the goal of finding opportunities to improve upon the value provided to patients. Mystery shopping, NPS® surveys, and compliance audits are a few of the most common ways that healthcare brands are gathering this vital information. Is your organization taking these steps to measure its patient experience?
It is sometimes hard to picture the concept of Patient Experience as a driver of enhanced business, because typically, we do not think of doctor’s offices as part of the business world. However, regardless of how patients contextualize the healthcare organizations they visit, there is still a set of industry service standards that must be met for a brand to become successful. Like other industries, healthcare brands must take intentional efforts to measure, analyze and improve their ongoing patient experience to become a leader within their respective industry segments. In doing so, healthcare organizations are proving to their patient base that they are looking to provide extended value, rather than churning out as many patients as possible.
Implementing a mystery shopping or survey program may seem superfluous, but the information provided in these correlating reports can illuminate the difference making change that encourages new patients to choose a brand’s services. For example, the Cancer Treatment Center of America, one of the most well-known healthcare brands in the world, is widely recognized for having an industry-leading Patient Experience. They accomplish this by consistently measuring both inpatient and outpatient experience, and comparing the results with the rest of their industry, to retain leadership status. This diligent approach to patient experience is why 92.4% of eligible adult patients surveyed between 48 hours and six weeks after their discharge, “would definitely recommend a CTCA hospital.” This number is close to 20% higher than industry standards, revealing to their organizational leadership that CTCA hospitals are consistently treating its patients with an extremely high level of care and service.
On the other side of the CTCA coin, healthcare brands can illuminate glaring holes in their current organization by implementing these patient experience measurement programs. One specific aspect that has been found to be one of these gaps between expectations and realities is call centers, and their inability to provide adequate service within in appropriate timetable. A report conducted by Kyruss, an organization dedicated to solving provider search and scheduling issues, found that, “only 58% of call center agents were able to match a patient with a provider during that first interaction, and only 18% were able to actually book an appointment for the patient.” Talking on the phone with agents may be an archaic form of customer service in many industries, but it is essential to providing a great patient experience for healthcare providers because of the typical segments these brands serve. When a technology company learns that their customer base is mostly younger generation, they cater their services to specialize in providing the value these segments prioritize. The same should be done for healthcare brands with a typically older patient population. By unlocking this information, Kyruss is helping brands find specific and actionable opportunities to improve patient relationships and satisfaction.
Healthcare brands have a responsibility to provide the best care possible to their patients, but without the right information, there will undoubtedly be missed opportunities. Implement programs like mystery shopping, patient survey, compliance audit, and custom research initiatives to better understand the status of your healthcare organization, all with the goal of providing an industry-leading Patient Experience.
http://www.cancercenter.com/ctca-results/tab/patient-experience-results/
https://www.kyruus.com/news/new-kyruus-report-reveals-critical-patient-experience-gaps-in-health-system-call-centers
Second To None empowers customer-centric brands to deliver consistent, intentional and authentic consumer experiences.
We adeptly design and manage mystery shopping, compliance, engagement and voice of customer solutions grounded in strategic relevance, program integrity and actionable insights. Our solutions are developed on the basis of solid research and statistical science. We achieve success through a relentless focus on quality and innovation, consultative relationships and a talented team of professional associates.