It’s the “mystery shoppers” that nobody told you about…
Last week, J.D. Power and Associates, the global marketing information services firm, released the results from its 2012 National Patient Experience Study that gathered information from more than ten thousand patients who received care in inpatient, outpatient or emergency facilities.
The good news is, the study found that recently-hospitalized patients have levels of overall satisfaction (825 index points on a scale of 1,000) similar to that of guests of luxury hotels (822 index points out of 1,000). If one assumes that a luxury hotel is a slightly less complex, probably more predictable and certainly more profitable facility to run than a hospital, then perhaps we have achieved something.
However, there are some differences in what drives satisfaction in these industries. In hotels, the facility itself accounted for nearly half (48%) of guests’ overall satisfaction. In hospitals, this figure was just 19%. When it comes to the professional staff in hospitals, doctors and nurses account for 34% of the overall experience rating, nearly double the impact of the facility. And when problems occur related to hospital staff, experience scores plummet precipitously, highlighting the importance of service recovery.
The study also found that among inpatients, 35% of the overall patient experience is predicted by the admission and discharge process, obviating the need for ongoing focus to improve communication and processes around transitions.This is an area that the hospitality industry has focused on and likely has some wisdom to offer hospitals and healthcare.
The take-home messages for healthcare leadership are clear when it comes to caregiver communication skills. You’ve got to continuously evaluate and support communication performance for each and every staff member from day one by:
- hiring right
- investing in your staff
- focusing on transitions
But, as the title of this post acknowledges, you've probably heard these messages before. The real challenge is doing them effectively and in such a way that your goals are absolutely transparent to caregivers and staff.
Tune in to the next post which will review three good ideas that can have an impact at each one of these stages, including blood oaths, mystery shoppers and pleading for phone calls.