Findings from the Lumeon report, “US Patient Access Leadership Research 2020/21,” spotlight the importance hospitals are placing on patient-centric experiences. The data reveals that whether care is accessed remotely or in person, the experience the patient has with the facility will be a critical business factor in the coming year.

Understanding patient experience. There’s a difference between patient experience and patient satisfaction. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality saysexperience encompasses what happened with the healthcare facility, while satisfaction pertains to whether or not the expectations for the experience were met. To be a patient-centered facility, hospitals have to work to meet each patient’s expectations with across-the-board protocols that meet their needs, regardless of age, issue, and treatment. In 2021 and beyond, patients will expect this level of service.

Patients are realizing that they have options, and they’ll ultimately make healthcare choices that align with their expectations. They can choose face-to-face or telemedicine, urgent care or their family physician, and one hospital over another. In many ways, patients have long been poor consumers of healthcare: they went where they always went, or where their primary care provider referred them, and they paid whatever showed up on the bill. But things are definitely evolving.”

Lumeon’s report compiled responses from hospitals with more than 25,000 monthly patient appointments. While quality of care matters, respondents said the experience individuals have will be key in attracting and retaining patients, more so than providing access to new talent or services...

Source: The Staffing Stream