Patient experience, satisfaction not one and the same

by Jason A. Wolf Consumer choice is the new frontier of the healthcare marketplace. While I haven't found anyone that challenges that fact, I encounter many that still resist this reality in their actions and efforts. In the simplest of terms, consumers are people that select a product and pay for it, and we see this happen in significant ways in healthcare today. With higher deductibles, a broader range of care options and more, healthcare organizations have to work harder to attract the customer to their door (and keep them) at all points on the care continuum, from physician practices and outpatient centers, to acute and post acute settings. The realities are clear as organizations report lower volumes and patients and families are more intentional in their healthcare choices. While we will never take away the idea of patient or resident at the core of our healthcare dialogue, we do need to remember that in almost all but the most extreme cases, these individuals--and we as family members, friends and patients as well--make choices. We are all consumers. And one thing all consumers have regardless of the setting, and more so in the emotionally charged environment of healthcare, is an experience. We all have one whether planned for or not. It is this very reality on which I want to challenge the misinterpretation of patient experience as satisfaction. Satisfaction, the idea of how positive someone feels about an encounter is an important metric, but experience encompa...
Source: hospital impact - Category: Health Managers Authors: Source Type: blogs