It is no longer sufficient for hospitals to deliver just a high standard of patient care. Increasingly, hospitals are forced to market themselves to local financial, consumer and professional audiences. Reputation, image, and patient satisfaction ratings (Press-Ganey Scores) are more important than ever in addition to quality of care. Some hospitals have even begun to provide hotel-like amenities like 24-hour room service and valet parking to gain favor with patients.
One major issue is a patient’s perception of safety while at a healthcare facility, which has been sub-par as of recent. In order to address this, facilities need to:
- Counter negative initial impressions where they exist
- Improve safety practices
- Communicate more effectively to patients about what is being done, why it is being done, and just be more transparent in general
| Press-Ganey Scores are measurements of overall quality in the healthcare industry. Patients, residents, employees, and physicians are surveyed to help healthcare providers get a better understanding of the level of satisfaction from their stakeholders in addition to providing constructive feedback on areas for improvement. Currently, over one-third of U.S. inpatient hospitals contract with Press-Ganey to measure patient satisfaction.
One of the most important factors in determining a score for a facility is the people. In fact, patient satisfaction can be achieved only if employees are provided with the training, environment, technology, motive and power to deliver excellent service. In other words, employee satisfaction can project onto patients and improve patient satisfaction. In turn, higher patient satisfaction will be reflected in higher Press-Ganey scores, thereby further reinforcing positive employee behavior. In addition, Press-Ganey provides additional services to healthcare facilities in the areas of:
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