Tuesday, December 9, 2014

4 Ways To Improve Hospital Competitiveness and Patient Satisfaction

You may not think of it often, but hospitals and healthcare organizations are businesses too. Their main focus may be the treatment and care of a patient, but they also have some money to make. With the recent emergence of minute clinics and urgent care centers, there has been a rise in competition in terms of business. At the end of the day, patients are consumers of healthcare and their choice for where they seek treatment is a big deal. Minute clinics and urgent care centers are commonly known for their ‘faster’ treatment capabilities which can be the reason why some patients chose the latter instead of a hospital.

With this being said, hospitals need to become more competitive and improve satisfaction in order to hold their market share. Check out these four ways hospitals can speed up their admittance rates and increase patient satisfaction.

1. Patient-Friendly Technologies             
Generally speaking, any time a patient goes for a visit, there is a large amount of paperwork to be completed before admittance. By integrating smart technologies, like electronic forms, patients can quickly submit information via tablet or some other computing device while waiting to be seen.

2. Print Management
On the other end, healthcare workers must print out wristbands, documents and other paper forms that can consume precious time. In order to speed up the delivery time of paper forms, print management solutions can streamline printing duties. This has a domino effect because it will translate into quicker patient admittance and hasten other workflows.

3. Modern Feel
No one likes waiting around in a dry, dusty and bland waiting room. By designing and renovating a welcoming waiting room, patients will get a better sense of treatment if they are in an area planned to be comfortable. By providing conveniences like WiFi, comfortable seating and a lounge type area, waiting would not be perceived as bad as it is.

4. More Time With Doctors
By increasing the overall speed and efficiency of patient wait times, doctors should be able to increase time spent with the patient. By allowing for more time to talk about an ailment, patients will be more satisfied with their visit and likely to return in the future if another medical issue arises.

While staying competitive is a big deal, hospitals do have advance technologies at their disposal to improve overall workflows, the challenge is integrating them!


No comments:

Post a Comment