Dismissing Client Concerns Is Hurting Your Bottom Line.

According to an article from Katherine Detwiler and Natalie Vaughn (2020), hospitals with low Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) have to not only worry about patient satisfaction, but smaller funding from Medicare. Hospitals with higher HCAHPS scores get more financial support, a bigger payout. To add more salt to this gaping wound (pun intended), Detwiler and Vaughn state hospitals with low scores receive financial penalties (2020). I do not know about you, but losing money does not sit well with me. Especially when increasing the HCAHPS score simply takes focusing on patient satisfaction.

            Patient satisfaction does not mean “giving in” to a patient’s demands. No room temperature water and red MnMs only, on my watch! The secret to increasing patient satisfaction is to gather your staff together and encourage them to rest. Yes, you read that correctly. Encourage your staff to rest. The research is out and we now know individuals are more receptive to receiving information when they are not on the defense or feeling as if they should be on the defense.

Whatever you have done, whomever you have encountered has already happened.

What are you going to do to handle the rest of your life?

                                                                        -Jon Kabat-Zinn

Once staff are able to clear out negative thinking bias through mindfulness based practices, the next stage can begin. I call this stage, Reflect. It involves educating individuals on why we often dismiss the concerns and needs of clients. The Reflect stage encourages staff to start where they are and embrace the challenge to seek understanding and have self-compassion for the past.

From Reflect we move towards Reimagine. I work with the staff through affinity groups to brainstorm how client satisfaction could improve with the knowledge they obtained in the first two stages. The key to this stage is the creation of collaborative solutions.

What We Practice Grows Stronger

-Unknown

Finally, like a caterpillar ready to leave its cocoon, we enter into the Remerge stage. This stage is where staff put what they have learned and decided to implement as a team, to the test. This stage is more of trial and error as staff remember to rest and develop a personal mindfulness practice that will lead to increase in empathy reduce job burnout (Penque, 2019).

RSP, Consulting, LLC is ready to move your hospital staff towards personal and professional wellness. Contact me today to proactively move towards increasing staff and patient satisfaction.

Citations:

Detwiler, K. & Vaughn, N. Patient Satisfaction & HCAHPS Reimbursement. September 2020. https://www.relias.com/blog/how-do-patient-satisfaction-scores-affect-reimbursement#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20program%2C%20the,funding%20they%20receive%20from%20Medicare.

Penque, Sue PhD, RN, ANP-BC, NC-BC, NE-BC Mindfulness to promote nurses' well-being, Nursing Management (Springhouse): May 2019 - Volume 50 - Issue 5 - p 38-44

doi: 10.1097/01.NUMA.0000557621.42684.c4