Last month, the Point of Care Foundation released a report that showed a direct correlation between engagement of healthcare staff and patient satisfaction.  This furthers the information found in a report by Beryl Institute and Catalyst Healthcare Research , which we spoke about in our article Achieving Patient Satisfaction Through Employee Engagement in June. These findings suggest that, both before and after the sudden influx of newly-insured patients, patient experience is inexplicably linked to engaged and attentive healthcare staff—perhaps even more so now.

This should come as no surprise: when your staff is giving patients the attentiveness and thoroughness of care they deserve, the patients should come out with a positive experience. And yet, according to the Beryl Institute’s research, professionals primarily responsible for addressing patient experience are only allocating an average of 63% of their time to supporting such efforts. This is due to insufficient staff, resulting in patient experience professionals having to turn their attention elsewhere.

In order to provide top-quality care and score high on patient satisfaction for reimbursements, healthcare facilities must consider bringing on new, dedicated talent. Hiring Care Managers and Coordinators is a great starting point, as these professionals can give patients one-on-one attention pre-, during, and post-stay to make sure they are informed and healthy. Such care can greatly improve patient satisfaction.

In addition, hiring such professionals can equip your facility to address the following issues, which are also big factors in overall patient experience:

• Improving communication between patients and staff
• Reducing patient wait times
• Providing patients with discharge information
• Communicating with patients regarding medication
• Maintaining a quiet and orderly environment
• Assisting in pain management

Hiring professionals to assist with these tasks is the quickest way to improving your patient satisfaction ratings and mitigating patient anxiety, which ranked as one of the highest satisfaction factors in one study.

Of course, in order to know who to hire, you first need to know where your facility is lacking. This is where providing a patient survey upon admission and/or discharge can be helpful. The key is to assess and address—find the areas that can be improved on and work to fill those gaps, either through hiring new professionals or reorganizing your current strategies. Stick with this formula, and you should be well on your way to having the ability to directly manage your patient experience.