How to Improve Patient Experience
The patient experience doesn’t just stop at the medical care you provide. Just like with running a hotel, patients expect a certain level of courtesy, concern and care for comfort.
Whether you run a hospital or small doctor’s office, you’re still running a business. This means a satisfying patient experience is crucial to your success, as patients have the capacity to write online reviews of your facility and decide whether or not they will return next time they need medical attention.
When it comes to healthcare, the little things matter to your patients.
A patient doesn’t usually come to see you when they’re feeling great. More often than not, every patient who comes through your doors is experiencing some sort of discomfort. And while your job is to do your best to alleviate that feeling, in the meantime, certain aspects of your facility’s patient experience can cause stress and further discomfort.
This makes it essential to make sure your patients are as content as they can be in their current situation. Some factors that your patients care about include:
1. The way your staff talks to them.
Psychologically speaking, the behavior of your staff can impact the moods and reactions of your patients. For example, if a doctor enters the room with red, teary eyes, and a somber voice, chances are this emotion is going to transfer to the patient who will start panicking and feeling sad as well. Or if a doctor comes in and makes passive aggressive remarks to the patient, it is likely the patient will respond with defensive rhetoric or even anger. Because of how easily emotions can transfer back and forth between individuals, especially in such a sensitive environment, it is essential that your staff hold themselves with a calm and confident demeanor.
2. The patients’ understanding of the clinical care they are receiving.
Once your staff is able to sustain their calm demeanor, they need to be able to express important health information properly to the patient in a way that they can understand. Patients can only remain calm if they understand clearly what is happening and what they can do. Industry jargon is something you may not even realize is jargon simply because you use that language so often. Therefore, it is critical to confirm with the patient that they comprehend the information you have given them.
3. The safety and quality of care.
Here not only are we referring specifically to the medical attention you provide for your patients, but also the facility itself where your business takes place. This means seemingly simple details such as the sheets on your beds, the uniforms your staff wears, the mats at your front entrance, and more make a huge difference in how much trust you instill in your patients and how comfortable they are during their time at your facility. This is because cleanliness is crucial in the healthcare industry. Your patients expect to see an establishment that is clean and put-together.
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We know your main focus is on making sure your patients have their medical needs taken care of. Worrying about what linens and uniforms you use and making sure they are cleaned properly every single time on top of dealing with the payroll to make sure those doing your laundry are compensated is too much to handle on top of your daily tasks!
That’s why we’d like to take this integral aspect of patient care off of your hands. We offer linens, uniforms, and mats through our quality rental services, not to mention our facility services! This is all available to ambulatory and primary care and hospital and acute care facilities. We provide high-quality linens that will help instill comfort and trust in your patients, and we have the accreditations to prove our commitment!
Simply contact our healthcare linen and uniform specialists at HandCraft today by giving us a call at 804-358-8671.
