Surveys show patients fear uncaring system
Your patients have lost confidence in you
A study found that Americans believe the bottom line rather than their well-being is driving your decisions about their health care. They complain they do not receive sufficient information about their health from their doctors and they report feeling frustrated trying to access and navigate the health care system.
The study, called Eye on Patients: A Report to the American Public, analyzes results from surveys conducted by the Boston-based Picker Institute and from focus groups and surveys conducted by the American Hospital Association. The Picker Institute’s data was drawn from surveys of 37,000 patients in hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices. The AHA data was compiled from interviews of 31 groups of adults, a total of 300 people.
The study is the first in an expected series designed to assess patient perceptions of health care quality and design ways to improve health care delivery to meet patients’ needs.
The results are disturbing and contradict what you may be hearing from your patients. It showed that although an average of 73% of patients may routinely rank their hospital stay as highly satisfactory on your in-house surveys, they, in fact, dislike the state of the health care system.
They complained they lacked decision-making power in their own care and were sent home with inadequate information about their health status and treatment. Patients reported they were not alerted to health danger signals and medication side effects nor told when they could resume normal activities. They study also revealed patients are dissatisfied with the insurer-driven system. They reported believing the health care system is designed to block rather than facilitate their entrance.
Respondents silent on customer service
Of the more significant findings, patients were noticeably silent regarding customer service programs, an area administrators have emphasized in their quality improvement initiatives to boost patient satisfaction. According to the survey, patients during their interviews rarely mentioned these programs — which include staff courteousness and so-called hotel amenities such as quality and variety of food at the hospital — indicating they do not consider such programs important factor to care quality. The study explains that these programs may please patients, but they "do not address the issues of core concern to patients or the public."
The study highlights several facilities that offer programs to address the core concerns identified in the study, including the lack of communication and decision-making power, emotional support, and care coordination among numerous agencies.
"We are losing the trust of our patients, and we need to get them back in the driver’s seat," says AHA President Dick Davidson. "One way hospitals and health systems can reach that goal is to move toward building provider-sponsored organizations — places that should make every step a patient takes through their health care experience smooth and comfortable."
The study results can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.amhpi.com/ eyeonpatients.
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