By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
One of the major reasons I changed my career path to developing outpatient service facilities outside of the mainstream hospital market was the refreshing attitude of “let’s get it done.”
At the time, both hospitals and freestanding surgery centers were driven to find a better way to process patients through the system. In a good way. The goal was to find a way to eliminate, as much as possible, the red tape associated with patient registration, waiting time, accommodations for friends and families, and everything that made the not-so-nice surgical process easier and friendlier for not only the patient and their loved ones, but for the staff and surgeons.
Such lofty aspirations.
It worked. Even die-hard critics will admit that we have improved our delivery of care, not just with the for-profit surgery centers, but also with hospitals. However, consider these areas:
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Patient satisfaction surveys.
How do we know we have improved? Look at responses to patient satisfaction surveys. Are you noticing a trend? I am.
Notice that, in the past, we allowed patient comments to address issues that were not in our selected list of questions from the companies that monitor patient responses. Are they slightly leading the patient to elicit a more favorable response so we look better than perhaps we are? I think so. You do know that you can tailor your questions that you want to ask the patients on these canned surveys.
At one time, we had cut down the patient registration to a reasonable time limit, and we did it with a smile. Think that is still the case? No. Don’t believe me? Sit in your waiting room and watch what happens. We process people. That is not a compliment.
The more we outsource our services — billing, management, pre-certification, follow-up phone calls — the more removed we become from our patients. I am a huge advocate of outsourcing, but not without oversight of the companies we use. Outsourcing does not diminish our responsibility for a good patient experience.
I loathe making our patients pay for parking on their day of surgery. I consider it cheap, unprofessional, and embarrassing for hospitals and surgery centers to charge patients to park to use their services.
I notice more and more freestanding surgery centers trying to make a couple of extra bucks by mimicking hospitals that charge patients. What many people don’t understand is that the service is usually an outside company that hospitals (and surgery centers) hire to provide this insulting service. While the hospitals get the flack for a few extra bucks per year, it is an outside company that makes all the money. It’s a pet peeve of mine.
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Phone call the day of surgery.
Many facilities have stopped calling the patient after they have left the center the day of surgery. Yes, it costs a few bucks, but anyone can do it. It doesn’t need to be a nurse. Just a simple call: “We just want to make sure you got home OK.” It means a lot to the patients and to the loved ones with them. But, who makes time anymore for what they consider silliness?
How did you feel after your day at work? Did you feel like you gave it your best, or did you just get through the day? I think the answer for a lot of us might be the latter.
How can you change this trend? Staff meetings. Ask your staff how you can improve your services. Some of these issues might come up and probably many more. Listen to them. Anything you can do is an improvement. Karma exists. [Earnhart & Associates is a consulting firm specializing in outpatient surgery development and management. Earnhart & Associates’ address is 5114 Balcones Woods Drive, Suite 307-203 Austin, TX 78759. Phone: (512) 297-7575. Fax: (512) 233-2979. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.earnhart.com.]
