Healthcare Consumers and the Importance of Survey Scores
Healthcare providers and organizations have long sought ways to connect more deeply with their patients; understanding the experience of moving through the care-to-billing pipeline is essential for any doctor or hospital system. Leveraging satisfaction surveys, although occasionally an effective strategy in traditional business spheres, is often more difficult in healthcare.
Patient satisfaction scores are the bane of many provider organizations, but they don’t have to be. Press Ganey has long been a fixture in the healthcare satisfaction survey space, and although the survey return rate hovers around 18%, there are ways to utilize these surveys that many providers are not taking advantage of.
The patient/consumer experience is a moving target these days; in the wake of COVID, the rapid growth of technologies and apps, and seismic shifts in the solution vendor landscape, understanding each patient’s care journey is nearly mandatory for provider organizations hoping to stay competitive.
In this video featuring Chilmark analyst Elena Iakovleva, we’ll dive into how to make the best use of Press Ganey surveys. It is possible for practice in the lowest percentile of scores to jump to the highest percentile by implementing only a few changes. Patients and providers working together to communicate about the healthcare experience can only be beneficial for each party, and for our healthcare system as a whole.
This issue can be examined in the context of our upcoming Market Trends report, Technologies Driving Improved Health Care Experiences. Available to members of both the Chilmark Advisory Service and our new retainer service, this report will examine the evolving landscape of patient engagement solutions and vendors who occupy this market space. This report can be purchased a la carte as well; please reach out via the form for updates. Enjoy the video and the transcript below!
Elena Iakovleva: [00:00:00] Hi, friends. Welcome back to the Chilmark Research Channel. My name is Elena Iakovleva and I’m one of the research analysts.
[00:00:07] Since the focus on patient satisfaction is here to stay, today we will be focusing on Press Ganey patient satisfaction surveys and some tools. We’re going to help you improve your scores.
[00:00:20] Before we jump in, please make sure to like this video, subscribe to our channel and hit the notification bell. This way, you can stay up to date on all of our latest research. For 30 years, Press Ganey has been a national leader in patient experience. Right now, Press Ganey is working with more than 26,000 health care facilities and over 60% of all American hospitals. Patient satisfaction continues to gain importance in health care, along with public reporting of scores and ties between the satisfaction and Medicare reimbursement policies. We all want to do well and get the best scores possible.
[00:01:09] Do you really know what a Press Ganey survey is all about? Well, regardless of the answer, you will find a lot of juicy information in this video. So keep on watching. Let’s first look into the basics.
[00:01:22] Every single month, one provider is getting 25 surveys mailed to his patients that are randomly selected. On average, the response rate is around 18%, meaning the rest, 82%, will end up in the trash. Most likely, you have a good chunk of your happy patients. Among those 82%, they just didn’t care to fill out the survey. Press Ganey states that only 30 responses are required to draw meaningful conclusions and published results.
[00:01:53] Today, we’re not talking about the quality of Press Ganey scores. Instead, we’re focusing on the rules of the game. I was directly involved in two Press Ganey related campaigns myself, and both of them were very successful. So today I would like to share a few tips with you. First of all, in my experience, most of your patients are not aware that they’re going to be getting anything from Press Ganey. So when the survey arrives, they just ignore it. Also, patients don’t even know the true meaning of patient satisfaction scores for your organization. In my opinion, you have a wonderful opportunity to improve your scores right here. It’s of ultimate importance to let your patient know before the episode of care ends that there is a possibility that this particular patient will receive the survey in the mail.
[00:02:44] Also, it’s important to mention how important patient experience surveys are for your organization. In addition to informing your patient about the survey, you should always give an opportunity to share his or her feedback with you. If it’s negative, you will have an opportunity to fix things. And if it’s positive, you will encourage your patient to fill out that survey and send it back.
[00:03:07] Now let’s talk a little bit about Press Ganey’s survey structure. By the way, I just received one in the mail a few days ago. So what was in it? Press Ganey questions fall into two groups. One group, 29 questions, all of them from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
[00:03:27] The second group comes directly from the provider organization and is not reported to HHS. So the second part is optional. And today we will concentrate on the first part of 29 questions and all of those 29 questions fall into eight subgroups:
[00:03:45] Your care from nurses, your care from doctors, the hospital environment, your experiences in the hospital. When you left the hospital, overall rating of hospital, understanding your care when you left the hospital and about you. Overall, it’s not a big survey and all the questions are mainly targeting the communication between health providers and the patient.
[00:04:09] In our next video, we will focus on developing an actionable plan on how to make sure your scores go up. Understanding the measurable qualities is essential for every single patient experience campaign, regardless of where you are right now with your scores and where you would like to be. I just want to let you know that it’s all in your power to make your scores work for you.
[00:04:38] In the next video, I will cover some key studies, along with some practical insights on how to work smarter, not harder, when it comes to the world of patient experience. Stay tuned and be on the lookout for our next video.
[00:04:54] If you’re new or lurking, welcome to the Chilmark family. If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you have any questions, please leave your comment down below. And if it’s relevant to the Press Ganey topic, I will be personally replying to all of those questions. Thank you.
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