Apr
23
Written by:
lori ezell
4/23/2010 2:35 PM
It's been a while since I worked as a registered nurse, but healthcare continues to be one of my passions. My night table is filled with books and magazines on the subject and you can bet my off-hours web-surfing includes a search or two about new breakthroughs in health and patient care. My interest has only intensified in light of the recent healthcare reform debate. (See our separate blog entry, “Capturing the Voice-of-the-Country Regarding Health Care Reform”.
It's been a while since I worked as a registered nurse, but healthcare continues to be one of my passions. My night table is filled with books and magazines on the subject and you can bet my off-hours web-surfing includes a search or two about new breakthroughs in health and patient care. My interest has only intensified in light of the recent healthcare reform debate. (See our separate blog entry, “Capturing the Voice-of-the-Country Regarding Health Care Reform”.
Thinking back to those years as a nurse, my fondest memories are of time spent with my patients. At that time, I was able to continually use all of my senses to understand my patients’ state of health. But today's patient care setting has changed dramatically. Nurses and staff are expected to do much more in far less time. As such, an emphasis on cost-cutting has consequently affected the quality time that primary healthcare practitioners are able to spend with patients and their families, giving way for critical problems both inside and outside the healthcare facility to develop.
Is cost-cutting working? Is it the right (and only) answer for healthcare institutions to be successful? Patients are certainly writing about their experiences in detail in the public domain, shouting about a multiple of issues from hospital rooftops everywhere.
Not long ago, The Journal of General Internal Medicine published "A 2020 vision of patient-centered primary care." The study maintains patient-centered care has received new prominence and seven attributes are proposed: access to care, patient engagement in care, information systems, care coordination, integrated and comprehensive team care, patient-centered care surveys, and publicly available information. Clearly, the patient (and patient feedback) is central to this vision.
Here are just a few areas where key insights can lead to critical changes for improvement:
- Patient experience (quality and cleanliness of the hospital room and surroundings; level of professionalism delivered by providers; ability to understand instructions, assessments and orders);
- Perceived physical safety, confidentiality and risks (i.e., exposure to MRSA, possible misconduct, possible malpractice, references to lawsuits);
- Perceived compliance with universal precautions/infection control practices (i.e., visiting friends and family members; roommates, healthcare providers - is everyone following posted instructions?);
- Perceived continuity of care upon discharge (understanding home care instructions; quality of follow-up by healthcare provider to ensure compliance);
Here are places where critical insights can be found and analyzed for significant value:
- Patient Surveys
- Patient Advocate/Ombudsman Notes
- JCOAH (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare) Feedback
- Analyst Reports
- Online Support Forums
- News Websites
Clearly the path to success is to return the focus of primary care on the patient. Through increased patient contact (or "taking their temperature" - no pun intended!), healthcare institutions can gain valuable direct feedback that serves to guide its decisions on areas for critical improvement and better-working efficiencies.
Gaining patient insights during all phases of care can lead to:
- Exposing problem (and possibly at-risk) areas of care delivery that may be adversely impacting the quality of primary care.
- Identifying opportunities for ensuring the patient and the patient's family clearly understand topics such as diagnosis, the care plan, important patient instructions and needed compliance.
- Quantifying plausible suggestions for improvement.
- Revealing possible areas of waste that can be eliminated without impacting the quality of primary care.
Imagine the possibilities at your healthcare institution. You can create a competitive advantage by taking your patients' experiences seriously - and acting on their feedback.