4 Ways To Increase Patient Satisfaction

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Hospitals and healthcare systems can implement a variety of tactics to increase patient satisfaction. Strategies that involve support staff like environmental services associates, patient transporters, patient sitters, and nurses can have a huge impact. Here are 4  effective ways that your hospital can increase patient satisfaction.

  1. Standardize Cleaning Procedures

Leaders at hospitals and healthcare systems wondering how to increase patient satisfaction can start with a thorough assessment of cleaning procedures. Cleanliness in any healthcare setting is essential to keeping patients safe, but also standardizing those cleaning procedures ensures that the hospital maintains high-quality standards.

Patients know clean when they see it, and a negative perception of the cleanliness of their room can have a huge impact on a patient’s likelihood to recommend a hospital. Teamwork between environmental service support staff and clinical staff helps boost patient perception, as patients understand a lack of coordination can negatively impact their safety and quality of care.

  1. Optimize Patient Flow

Optimizing how patients move in, around, and out of the hospital also impacts patient satisfaction. Patient transporters represent one way to maximize efficiency when considering patient flow.

Patient transporters come in contact with patients at multiple points during their hospital stay. Transporters are one of the first staff a patient meets and their responsible for moving patients safely around the hospital. Every time a patient interacts with a transporter is an opportunity to improve that patient’s satisfaction with their experience.

At the same time, delays in patient transportation can increase wait times, which can significantly harm a patient’s overall satisfaction with their experience. Delays in transportation harm the ability of clinical staff to care for their patients efficiently. By optimizing patient flow, hospitals can enjoy more on-time surgery starts and better support care delivery, all of which plays into patient satisfaction.

  1. Have Dedicated Staff To Support High-Risk Patients

High-risk patients require increased support. Patient sitters are trained professional and they create stable and safe environments for high-risk patients. Patient sitters can increase patient satisfaction by:

  • Providing immediate response when de-escalation is needed, supporting patients in distress.
  • Enhancing the patient experience through increased engagement.
  • Improving overall patient safety.
  1. Invest in Nursing Staff

Providing nurses with additional resources so they can better understand and address patient needs empowers these essential staff members to do their jobs better and increase patient satisfaction. Nurses who can better communicate with physicians, the patient’s care team, and support staff are in a better position to build trust and foster positive experiences for patients and their families.

Nurses should be trained to ask for feedback from patients, then incorporate what matters to those patients into their care plan. Training should also empower nurses to work as a team with other nurses to deliver a unified approach. Hospitals and healthcare systems should strive to staff enough nurses at all times so nurses don’t feel pressure to quickly move between patients.

Hospitals and healthcare systems searching for ways to increase patient satisfaction have a variety of strategies to use. Implementing these practices can boost a patient’s assessment of their overall experience in a healthcare setting.