We live in a world where we have many options. When we go to a grocery store to buy cereal, there is an endless selection. When we want to eat out, there is a long list of restaurants. The same goes for home care agencies.
With so many different options, what makes a company stand out? Customer experience is one way, where “81% of companies view customer experience as a competitive differentiator” (Morgan, 2019). In home care, patient satisfaction is a "competitive advantage" (Carrus et al., 2015).
High satisfaction leads to success
Patient satisfaction in home healthcare means much more than just satisfaction because it reflects the quality of care being provided, and it affects patient retention and clinical results (Prakash, 2010). There is a correlation between patient satisfaction and the trust/commitment of the patient. When satisfaction is high among customers, it translates to customer loyalty. When customers are loyal to your company, they “are five times more likely to purchase again and four times more likely to refer a friend to the company” (Morgan, 2019).
To increase loyalty, it begins with customer service, as “96% of customers say customer service is important in their choice of loyalty to a brand” (Morgan, 2019).
We are all customers. According to LinkedIn, “a customer is a person or company who purchases goods and services” (Viswanathan, 2017). Those who are in the market for home care services are customers. Customers with a positive experience with a brand will roughly tell 9 people, whereas customers with a negative experience will tell 16 (Morgan, 2019).
“87% of customers who say they had a great experience will make another purchase from the company, compared to 18% of customers who had a very poor experience” (Morgan, 2019).
Ways to increase patient satisfaction
There are different ways to help increase your patient satisfaction. Provide care and treatment in terms of the patient's preferences. Attentively listen to your patients. There is a correlation between a positive experience and the patient feeling that their concern is taken seriously. Home care workers have a short amount of time with their patients. To ensure that patients know their instructions, leaving written or verbal instructions (digital recording) for the patient can help. While all these listed above can help increase patient satisfaction, there are two other actions that a home care provider can take to ensure patient satisfaction levels remain high.
1). Conduct patient satisfaction surveys
Patient satisfaction surveys can help you understand what to improve on, and it shows your employees that you care about offering the best quality care possible.
“77% of consumers view brands more favorably if they seek out and apply customer feedback” (Morgan, 2019).
You can read our blog on how to design your patient satisfaction surveys here.
2). Conduct employee engagement surveys
You may ask what employees have to do with the picture of increasing patient satisfaction? Let us explain. Happy employees equal happy customers. When employees are engaged, their productivity and customer service are positively impacted. When a company has engaged employees, it outperforms “the competition by 147%” (Morgan, 2019).
How we can help
Retainify offers a unified solution that allows home care providers to both customize and automate their patient satisfaction and employee engagement surveys to measure what matters to them. Our cost-effective solution can be deployed in less than 24 hours with minimal effort, and customers can access feedback from their staff and patients in real-time. Turn Feedback into Action.
Questions or Feedback?
Contact Us: hello@retainify.com
Citations:
Avery, J. (2021, October 21). Engagement at home: How home healthcare organizations can improve patient and staff satisfaction. Retrieved November 23, 2021, from https://medcitynews.com/2021/10/engagement-at-home-how-home-healthcare-organizations-can-improve-patient-and-staff-satisfaction/
Carrus, B., Cordina, J., Gretz, W., & Neher, K. (2015, August). Measuring the patient experience: Lessons from other industries. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://healthcare.mckinsey.com/measuring-patient-experience-lessons-other-industries/
Durmuş, A., & Akbolat, M. (2020, October 21). The Impact of Patient Satisfaction on Patient Commitment and the Mediating Role of Patient Trust. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2374373520967807
FPM Editors. (2018, June 08). Five factors that affect patient satisfaction. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://www.aafp.org/journals/fpm/blogs/inpractice/entry/improve_patient_satisfaction.html
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Lytle, T. (2016, September 22). 7 Tips to Increase Employee Engagement Without Spending a Dime. Retrieved November 09, 2021, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/1016/pages/7-tips-to-increase-employee-engagement-without-spending-a-dime.aspx
Pizzi, R. (2014, October 28). 10 ways to boost patient satisfaction. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/10-ways-boost-patient-satisfaction
Prakash, B. (2010). Patient Satisfaction. Retrieved October 05, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3047732/
Morgan, B. (2019, September 24). 50 Stats That Prove The Value Of Customer Experience. Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2019/09/24/50-stats-that-prove-the-value-of-customer-experience/?sh=3c646e9d4ef2
Viswanathan, V. (2017, July 13). Who is a customer? Retrieved November 12, 2021, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/who-customer-vish-viswanathan/
White, B. (1999, January). Measuring Patient Satisfaction: How to Do It and Why to Bother. Retrieved October 04, 2021, from https://www.aafp.org/fpm/1999/0100/p40.html