Educational programs almost always have learning objectives. The objectives typically start with action words: identify, describe, outline, define, and so on. In these pages, we have explored the business case for creating the extraordinary patient experience. In our presentation on that topic, part of The Successful Physician, we list the usual and customary objectives. But what do we really want? We really want to be the place and provider of choice, to be known for quality and safety.
Patient and family expectations are continually evolving, changing, and increasing, placing corresponding demands on the physician and staff. Earl Naumann, PhD, in his white paper, “Creating Customer Value, the linkage between value, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability,” observes that, “The rapidly changing, intensely competitive business environment of today demands that firms be proactive, innovative, and more customer-driven than ever before.” Healthcare is competitive and rapidly changing, and shopping for a physician may share some characteristics with other kinds of shopping, but it is different in important ways.
The patient’s and family’s perception of quality is affected by their experience of responsiveness, service, precision, and accuracy. How hard is it to get an appointment? Does a live person answer the phone? Is his or her name spelled correctly? How long do they sit in the waiting room? Are they kept informed about delays in the physician’s schedule?
The patient’s and family’s perception of safety rests on their experience of the predictability, competence, consistency, clarity, and transparency of the practice’s staff and systems. In the patient’s and family’s world of uncertainty and anxiety, these qualities may give them the only solid ground they feel under their feet.
CAP member physicians and their staff expend tremendous effort to create this environment of courtesy, calm, efficiency, and effectiveness to share with patients and their families. We believe that, in the face of competing and increasing demands, we are courteous because we need each other to get the safety and quality job done. We are calm because there is enough anxiety to go around. We are efficient, doing the simple things correctly every time to use resources well. We are effective, making a difference every day.
This is what we believe we are doing, but can we know how we are doing? Can we capture the voice of the patient and family? Can we validate our belief and confirm that we are becoming the place and provider of choice? For CAP member physicians and their staff, the Patient Experience Survey Program is an important part of our strategic response to the present and our plans for the future. In a recent webinar, “Learning from patient experience: where we have been and where we can go,” Rachel Grob, PhD, noted, “The patient experience is no longer a ‘nice to know’ but a cornerstone of care.” The Patient Experience Survey’s clear and direct questions ask the patient about the courtesy, calmness, effectiveness, and efficiency we believe we provide. The patient’s responses are the measure of our success, or a guide to where and how we can improve.
Becoming the provider and place of choice represents major and ongoing investment. The corollary question is: Does measuring how we are doing matter? The Patient Experience Survey is an investment that validates the efforts of CAP member physicians and their staff to create environments, systems, and experiences that attract and retain patients. Survey results point us towards the highs and alert us to the lows in our operations. They are tools to increase our nimbleness in responding to the rapidly changing, intensely competitive business environment Naumann described above.
To paraphrase Mark P. Herzog in “How Real is Healthcare Consumerism?”, patients’ responses to CAP’s Patient Experience Survey will help member physicians’ practices “sustain and preserve the best parts but make the changes patients need from us.”
SOURCES
Grob, R. and Schesinger, M. "Learning from patient experience: where we have been and where we can go". Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative webinar, aired July 27, 2016.
Herzog, M.P. "How real is healthcare consumerism?” HealthLeaders Media, April 2016
Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H. "Welcome to the experience economy."Harvard Business Review, 1998.
Virtual Healthcare in Private Practice – What Do Patients Demand? AdvancedMD
Carole Lambert is vice president, Practice Optimization and Residents Program Director for the Cooperative of American Physicians. Questions or comments related to this article should be directed to clambert@CAPphysicians.com.