Who Is Press Ganey and why are they measuring patient satisfaction?
In 1979, Irwin Press, PhD focused his interest on the modern patient experience, the study of which would lead him to become known as a patient satisfaction expert. In 1984, Dr. Press introduced the importance of survey methodology when establishing a patient satisfaction program and by early 1985, he had developed a survey that would measure patient satisfaction as a means to improve performance. To address the need for statistical analysis and survey methodology, he collaborated with Rod Ganey, PhD and together, the two formed Press Ganey Associates in 1985.
According to their website, today Press Ganey “partners with more than 10,000 health care organizations worldwide to create and sustain high performing organizations, and, ultimately, improve the overall health care experience. Press Ganey works with clients from across the continuum of care hospitals, medical practices, home care agencies and other providers including 50% of all U.S. hospitals.”
The Press Ganey Pulse Report is an annual report which collates research and analysis of public and proprietary data and the perspectives of patients, employees and physicians to uncover trends in healthcare. The 2011 report reveals:
“The top priority item for medical practices is sensitivity to patient needs, indicating a need for medical practices to personalize their interactions with every patient.”
The remaining top-priority items for medical practices all reference patient satisfaction with the care provider, and include:
- Physicians and medical practices need to serve the whole patient.
- Physicians and medical practices need to understand a patients culture, the relationship with a patients family or caregivers, and the unique communication needs of individual patients.
- Physicians and medical practices need to validate patient concerns and confirm comprehension, which are critical to ensuring compliance with treatment protocols, and also increases the likelihood for better outcomes and greater patient satisfaction.
The report also has some pretty fascinating information on the Overall Satisfaction in Top 25 Medical Practice Specialties (!) and Medical Practice Satisfaction by Waiting Times. Press Ganey outpatient questions are answered by over 3 million people annually over the course of 12 months. You can download the 2011 Press Ganey Pulse Report here.
Press Ganey also has other free resources available on their site:
For Medical Practices and Outpatient Facilities – case studies, recorded webinars, ROI resources and White Papers here
For Hospitals – case studies, Pulse Reports, Emergency Department resources, recorded webinars, ROI resources and White Papers here
For Home Care -case studies, recorded webinars, ROI resources and White Papers here
Government Initiatives for Public Reporting – includingthe Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CGCAHPS) survey, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) survey, and Meaningful Use and Value-based Purchasing here
As healthcare embraces technology to improve patient outcomes, streamline operations, and lower costs, the technologies with the most impact are the ones that Make Things Simpler.
One of the most basic ways to simplify a complex process to is remove friction
The electronic medical record removes the friction of paper records finding, handling, storing, and securing them – all the things that can get between the critical information on the page and the physician who needs it. A smartphone removes the friction of needing to be near a desktop to read and send email, get contact information, and securely access practice and hospital documents and patient data. This technology provides value by simplifying a process to its core so that time, effort and resources are not wasted on mishaps, transportation, and basic human inertia.
Now, think about your practice’s web content: the basic information and elevator pitch about your services that you want to communicate to existing and future patients. Your content is the reason you have a website in the first place and you should always be looking for ways to get eyeballs in front of it. Email lists, Facebook and Twitter, direct mail and practice brochures are all designed to connect people with your content to drive business to your practice. If someone sees a link to your content while they’re at their computer, then the only friction you’ll encounter is getting them to click to go to your page.
But what about all the mobile time your potential customers spend?
If they see an advertisement – TV, billboard, print that has the URL (web address) you want to send them to, they will have to bypass a lot of potential friction before they see your content. They have to:
- Commit to going to the website later
- Remember the URL, and why they wanted to go to in the first place
- Follow through with this commitment and remember how and why they wanted to go to the page
- Type the URL into a browser
With social media and email campaigns that are usually accessed through internet enabled PCs or mobile devices, a simple link enables you to bypass all of this potential friction because theres a fairly good chance that your customer will either click the link immediately, or possibly bookmark it to check it out later (enabling a much easier recall). But with print, public, and televised advertising campaigns the odds are the customer doesn’t have either:
- An internet enabled device on them at the moment, or
- The time or inclination to check out the website immediately- and if they did, they would encounter more friction typing the address into their mobile.
So how can you overcome this friction, and get the benefits of the simplicity of a link in a real world marketing situation? One way is with Quick Response (QR) codes.
A QR code is a two-dimensional barcode that can be quickly and easily read by a fairly simple piece of software to communicate a piece of information: text, or a phone number or other contact information, or a web address to direct a phone’s web browser. Most of the QR Codes themselves are a small jumble of black and white pixelated dots that sort of resemble a digital bacteria or some sort of computer life form. But in many ways, Quick Response (or QR) codes are like hyperlinks that exist in our physical lives. By installing a small program on your phone, and then taking a picture of the code with your phone, you can immediately access the information embedded within.
- See a newspaper ad about a sale at one of your favorite stores, and scan the QR code to get a link to a coupon for an additional discount, or to register to be told about other upcoming sales.
- See a TV commercial about a new restaurant, where scanning the code on TV leads your phone to a website to make reservations for dinner, or receive a special two-for-one deal.
- See a poster at a health fair booth and scan the QR code to get an instant calculator app that gives you easy exercise options for someone your age with your level of physical fitness.
By removing the friction of telling someone about web content without giving them the ability to access it automatically, QR Codes lubricate the entire person education process. A QR Code on a brochure can facilitate initial contact with the patient by sending them to a website to get more information, or book an appointment, whereas a phone number to call with more info, or even just the practice’s web address means a patient is left to go the rest of the way on their own. On top of that, a QR code is a simple and effective way to improve your image as an organization on both a technical and user friendly front, and QR codes are flexible enough to handle a lot of different applications in your practice:
- Flyers about annual checkup services: (blood pressure, weight management, mammograms) that your patients see as they leave (often when most motivated to seek additional services) can include links to more information (general info sites, government warnings, approved resource sites, treatment communities) or redirect to content on your site or blog.
- Advertisements for surgical procedures and contain codes to access before and after pictures and patient testimonials, or to a landing page to submit requests for more information.
By streamlining the process of fulfilling a patient’s request to tell me more, QR Codes give practices an easy (and did I mention free) way to build relationships, influence patient health choices and outcomes, direct patients to the content you choose for them, and even send the message that your practice is on the leading edge of technology.
Five steps to start using QR codes in your practice right away
- Decide how QR Codes fit into your overall marketing and education effort. Which real-world situations do you want to link to web content?
- Setting up a QR plan doesn’t have to involve a big up-front expense. Use free programs like Kaywa (http://qrcode.kaywa.com/) to generate codes for your campaigns, and free readers like i-nigma for iPhone (http://itunes.apple.com/us/
app/i-nigma-4-qr-datamatrix- ) and QRDroid for Android (https://market.android.com/barcode/id388923203?mt=8 details?id=la.droid.qr ) to get started right away - Think carefully about where you place the codes themselves. You want people to have access to the info, without making the code itself the center of the message. The code is the link to more, not the point of the marketing effort. And make sure people can see and frame the code easily enough that they don’t struggle to scan it. Don’t add friction now!
- Don’t assume everyone knows what the code is, or what to do with it. Give them a clear call to action, complete with instructions. “Scan this code with a QR reader to receive (learn more, find out, book now…)”
- Make sure the payoff at the other end of the code is worth the effort. Give them some real value for their scan. It could be a discount, it could be exclusive, valuable, it could be a frictionless way to make an appointment with you (win-win!), but don’t have people scan if the effort won’t be rewarded with real value.
Grand Rounds is a weekly summary of the best healthcare writing online, featuring stories, opinion and analysis from doctors, nurses, patients, researchers and administrators, as well as journalists. Each Tuesday, a different blogger takes the helm, publishing a new edition of Grand Rounds on their site. Each edition features the hosts picks for the ten best healthcare links of the week.
This week, one of my very favorite bloggers hosts Grand Rounds, Dr. Bryan Vartabedian of the famed blog 33charts.com. Dr. V. is a pediatric gastroenterologist at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine. If you’ve never read Dr. V’s blog, try it – his writing is excellent.
Here’s his intro:
Welcome to this edition of Medical Grand Rounds. I scoured the web and pulled together what I think are some of the more interesting posts and news items of the past couple of weeks. Ive tried to explore some voices that perhaps havent crossed your radar. Weve got sociologists, medical students, IT gurus, medical futurists and even a couple of doctors. Some of the discussions have related posts that you might find interesting. Posts are not listed in any particular order.
Give yourself a little gift and click here to read Grand Rounds.
The Third Annual Health Care Social Media Summit took place on the Mayo Clinic campus in Rochester, Minnesota last week, and to my chagrin, I was unable to attend. Lots of good information and resources were shared, including this video. It was posted on YouTube on October 14th and has already been viewed more than 10,000 times.
Mayo Clinic wouldn’t mind if the video went viral, but really wants the message to go viral. For information about installing the “Know Your Numbers” app on your hospital or practice Facebook page, contact Makala Johnson at Johnson.Makala@mayo.edu.
It’s taken me a long time to realize that I’m part of a seriously small group that likes, or at least tolerates change well. People universally HATE change and will do most anything to avoid it. So what is a manager to do when charged with making change happen, or when leading your own change initiative?
Know the Change
Map out the change and do your best to understand every possible implication of the change. Have a trusted colleague or mentor review the map with you and see if you’ve neglected to consider any angle. For instance, if your plan is to offer Saturday clinic hours, make sure you’ve considered:
- A budget for the change – are all the stakeholders in agreement on the money that will be spent to make the change? Is this a pilot for a specific time period or will the Saturday hours be continued regardless of the patient volume?
- How will it be decided which staff will work Saturdays? Will working Saturdays be optional or mandatory? Will staff be allowed to earn overtime, or will they have to adjust their weekday schedule? Will there be a pay differential for Saturday hours? Will there be lots of staff wanting to work Saturdays or will there be no staff wanting to work Saturdays? Because they are so personal, staffing and payroll will always be the stickiest parts of making change happen, so assign them top priority!
- How will it be decided which physicians or mid-level providers will work on Saturdays? Have issues with pay, call, and time off been resolved?
- A marketing plan for the new Saturday hours. Letting people know that you will be open Saturdays is critical to the success of the plan.
- Will all services be offered on Saturdays, or will it be modeled after on an urgent care? If it is an urgent care model, will it be billed as an urgent care visit and will co-pays be collected for urgent care services? How will an urgent care model be communicated to patients so they are not surprised when there are different terms of service than they usually encounter?
- What, if any, changes will need to be made to forms, the computer system, HVAC, security, janitorial, lights, payroll system, etc. What workflows might need to be changed because the practice is not used to operating on Saturdays? Role play a patient coming for a Saturday appointment and map out all the possibilities.
Frame the Change Message
Let everyone know why the change is being considered/happening. Craft the change message into something repeatable. Everyone must understand the reason and must be able to attach the reason to a change message. It could be “We’re growing!” or “More service for our patients” or “We will thrive.” Whatever one or two messages you choose, repeat them in your Rule of Seven (see below) and throughout your change process. Explain that the change is coming because:
I have not always been excited to hear patient complaints. As a younger manager I absolutely dreaded when a patient wanted to speak to me. I felt that I had little to offer a patient who expressed anger or frustration with something that had happened and I was very impatient to get past the complaint and get back to my “job.”
Now, I can’t wait to hear patients’ complaints. Complaints are the only opportunity managers have to understand the patient’s experience and hear in their own words what went wrong for them. By listening carefully, you have the potential to accomplish several goals.
- You can heal the patient’s complaint, first by making sure the patient feels heard, and second by addressing the problem if something needs to be done.
- You can gain insight into an experience in the practice and dissect it to see why the problem occurred and what can be done to fix it.
- You can model to the staff how important patient complaints are and how seriously you take them.
- You can retain the patient for the practice, and hopefully make them a fan who will recommend your group to friends and family.
In the past it might have taken a lot for a patient to complain to the manager as many patients will not risk disenfranchising a physician they really like. Today is the advent of the consumerist patient, and people are feeling empowered to complain about problems in healthcare ( a good thing!) Healthcare managers need to step up to the plate to meet them and make sincere attempts to cultivate a positive patient experience from beginning to end.
Here’s how I suggest you listen to patients:
- Instruct staff to prioritize patients calling and asking for the manager. Unless you are in the middle of a meeting, take all patient calls as they come in. If you cannot take the call, ask the staff to make sure to document the best time to return the call and the number. Prioritize returning the call.
- You can delegate patient complaints to subordinate managers once you feel completely confident that they can handle the complaints appropriately, but you should continue to take calls periodically and check complaint documentation to make sure everything is going as you intend it to.
- Listen to the patient until they are done talking. Apologize and let them know that their experience is not what you want for patients. Go back over the complaint and ask questions to make sure you understand what happened.
- Tell the patient you will investigate the complaint and give them a definite date and time when you will call them back to report on what you’ve found.
- Talk to all staff and physicians involved in the incident. Call the patient back and share any information that is appropriate. Most patients will be satisfied to receive a call back and hear that their complaint has been discussed.
- Offer your direct phone number to patients and invite them to call you if they have any further problems. A nice touch is to invite patients to ask for you when they come in next for an appointment so you can meet them face-to-face.
The healthcare website that had its humble beginnings as a digital brochure has morphed into one of the most important resources a practice has. Your website must be able to:
- attract and capture new patients,
- retain and engage existing patients,
- provide a platform for information and education,
- gather consumer feedback,
- be a two-way communication tool, and
- distinguish your practice as an authority.
Here’s how to manage this very important resource, choose the right professionals to be your practice’s partners in success, and spend your financial resources wisely.
Let’s define the professionals.
Web Designer: A web designer focuses on the look and feel of a website and leverages good aesthetic sense to make a website enticing and visually pleasing.
Web Developer: A web developer is focused on the way your website works. Web developers have strong programming skills and are responsible for maintaining your website and ensuring it functions well. This person may also be called a Webmaster or Site Administrator.
Web Host: Web Hosting providers give you storage in their data centers for web pages, files and databases that make your website an interactive experience for your patients, employees and stakeholders. Your web host is responsible for keeping your site secure and available 24/7.
Website Software
You can have a web professional custom code a website for you from scratch, but that is not necessary, efficient, cost-effective or smart. We’ve been advocates of using blog software for websites for years for two reasons. One, the cost of using a blogging platform as software for your website is free. Two, you have control of the site and can make simple changes and post content with ease yourself. The most popular blog software, and the software we use at Manage My Practice is WordPress. With blogging software, even beginners (the manager or a staff member) can learn the basic process of tweaking information and adding information, keeping the practice website current.
Website Design
Do you need a website designer? Absolutely not!
Should you use a website designer? Absolutely!
Click here to go to Medsider to hear Scott Nelson interviewing me on ways sales reps can help physicians in new ways. When I consult with companies who want to understand new ways to work with medical practices, I advise them to consider more carefully the role the staff play in making practice services happen. It may be the physician’s name on the referral, but it’s probably the referral clerk who is pulling all the strings!
Asking for feedback can be tough.
Asking for feedback as a physician or care provider is unexplored territory for most practices.
My primary care provider has a simple and effective way to ask patients to leave feedback online.
As social media matures and more healthcare groups gain experience using it, we understand more about it and the role it will play in the future of healthcare.
Last week, Abraham and I gave a program called “Starting the Conversation: An Introduction to Using Social Media In Healthcare” to a group of healthcare managers. We discussed social media’s potential to influence patient satisfaction, which is expected to influence reimbursement.
