Real talk. When it comes to the quality of patient care in healthcare facilities, who’s responsible? Especially, when there's a shortage of healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, on deck? Furthermore, how does a nursing shortage impact the quality of patient care in facilities and what can we do to help moving forward?
For a while, we have been experiencing a nursing shortage and we seem to be in a holding pattern with healthcare. It may have begun with the aftermath of COVID-19, but the desire for choices in healthcare have been ramping up even before then. Starting a few years back, insurance premiums and medical costs were on the rise, and patients sought to be more involved in their healthcare decisions to get the most bang for their buck. Now, a changing healthcare landscape and rising patient expectations can seem even more demanding, albeit understandable. Healthcare facilities have been faced with a pandemic and a shortage of healthcare workers, all on top of evaluating the level and quality of service they provide.
The rundown on hospitals and their hospitality
First and foremost, well-staffed facilities have a leg up on providing great customer care. Research from Accenture found that hospitals with superior customer service have higher net margins (50 percent on average) than hospitals who deliver “average” customer service experiences. And when you make more money, you can pay for more healthcare workers to care for patients.
“Patients are increasingly shopping for healthcare services, seeking the best possible overall experience when they need care,” said Jean-Pierre Stephan, managing director of Accenture’s Health customer relationship management offerings. “As a result, leading hospitals are growing profitability not by cutting costs, but by improving the patient experience and satisfaction.”
In a 2016 Consumer Insights report from NRC Health, patient ratings and reviews were the most important and most viewed information on a hospital website. So, while patients are taking their healthcare into their own hands and shopping around for the best services, healthcare facilities are behind the scenes, providing the best patient care, and now, doing it while facing increasing staff shortages.
A business' reputation largely stems from word-of-mouth banter. You know the saying, “news travels fast”? The same can be said for facility and staff reviews. Patient service was all fine and good when we were living our day-to-day, but what are patients looking for now in the wake of our changing healthcare landscape? Crisis patient care needs communication and authoritative research to lead the way, by means of reviews and reputation.
Improving reviews and reputation
How reputation can benefit healthcare facilities...
Reputation rests on the laurels of reviewing. Increased competition between healthcare providers and more online engagement are two trends and challenges healthcare facilities and nurses seeking a travel job can capitalize on. Now more than ever, ratings and reviews can make or break a company, a restaurant, a store and even (you guessed it) a healthcare facility and those who work there. Patients can go online to rate, review and compare the different rankings of healthcare organizations all over the U.S. If one patient has a negative experience, that can add up quickly to a bad reputation and really scramble patient retention. It’s estimated that the lifetime value of a patient is approximately $1.4 million. When a patient has a poor experience, and makes the decision to take their health needs elsewhere, they take their money with them, as well as their power of influence and persuasion that could potentially sway the opinions of others.
How reputation can benefit healthcare professionals...
With the many responsibilities healthcare professionals face when caring for a patient, it can seem nearly impossible to focus solely on customer service techniques. The fact is, one positive patient experience can be directly impactful. Providing a high-quality experience for patients helps improve facility reputation, increase patient engagement and improves a healthcare organization. In turn, nurses garner positive feedback and are sought after by facilities who know what they're doing and also have a positive reputation. This can make for a better job experience and better future opportunities.
How reputation can benefit recruiters and agencies...
Reviews aren't just for facilities though. Reviews for healthcare recruiters from travelers immersed in their job hunt are also detrimental to the healthcare workforce. After all, finding great healthcare professionals to fill the nursing shortage is the goal, right? Transparency matters when it comes to providing a good experience. Job platforms, like Fusion Marketplace, make it easy to rate and review. With the launch of recruiter ratings and reviews, travelers can provide honest reviews, giving a win-win to both travelers and healthcare staffing agencies. Reviews lend an ear to transparency and allows for both praise and improvement; something the healthcare industry can benefit from overall.
Increasing patient engagement
Building a trusted partnership between patient and nurse can make a positive impact on patient retention. There are several studies that have related a focus on patient experience with improvements, such as quality and safety, patient outcomes, financial performance, employee retention and more. For example, when Georgia Health Sciences Medical Center implemented changes to its visitation policy, promoting patient and family engagement, they saw saw a 62 percent reduction in medication errors, a 40 percent decrease in falls and 50 percent of patients were admitted for a shorter period of time. It's no surprise that patients are more likely to visit the same facility that they trust to get them back on their feet faster. The healthcare industry, in turn, can benefit by seeing more patients in an efficient manner and retaining quality nurse staff, preventing them from getting swamped and overrun.
Enhancing facility revenue
While healthcare is first and foremost about patient care, it is still an organization that requires money to operate at its best. Take underfunded hospitals, for example. More funding equals less wrenches in the wheels, leading to a better patient experience. Positive patient care brings in better reputation and more revenue for that facility. This circle helps in more ways than one. Sure, reviews and bedside manner bring a better reputation and more people in the door, but it can also help healthcare facilities keep their staff, minimizing turnover and improving patient trust. Research found that implementing patient-and family centered care practices at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Michigan led to a decrease in the average nurse turnover rate (from 21 to 7 percent). They estimate that this has led to a savings of $3 million over 5 years.
Plus, the “patient experience” is being used by insurance payers as a metric to determine quality of care. New “quality of care” types of partnerships between healthcare facilities and payers are becoming more and more common and are changing the way that the parties who are paying healthcare bills create contractual agreements and determining the landscape of the healthcare bottom line.
The Advisory Board Company reported that a 10 percent increase in customer loyalty could generate more than $22 million in revenue for the average hospital. Money is made from the satisfaction and loyalty of patients who trust their healthcare provider. Which, regardless of money, should be the goal anyway; however, a better bank typically allows for better resources, equipment and staff, and therefore make it easier to meet and exceed patient expectations.
Healthcare facilities who pay attention to both the people and the numbers amidst a nursing shortage will drive the best healthcare experience for both patients and travel nurses moving forward. In turn, nurses will benefit from jobs that are best suited to their talents, wants and needs. Understanding how it all connects, and how positive patient experiences can help jumpstart us out of the nursing shortage rut will benefit everyone moving forward.
