Along with delivering quality healthcare, patient satisfaction has long been a focus of home health agencies nation-wide. It’s why we all went into the healthcare industry right? To keep people healthy. To keep people happy. With the release of Home Health Compare patient satisfaction has become an even more prominent aspect to running a home health agency. Let’s try to get more stars!

Improving patient satisfaction doesn’t have to be a monumental task. You know you’re favorite barista at starbucks? Or that great waiter you just had? If we start applying some of their attitudes toward customer service towards healthcare delivery we will see our HHCAPS score improve. An article in Forbes magazine describes this as the “halo effect.” This refers to people, including your patients and their loved, cutting you more slack on negative encounters if they generally have a positive view of you. So try! Here’s some things you can do.

  1. ACT LIKE YOU CARE! Although you are there to deliver clinical services, don’t be so clinical. Make sure you make eye-contact and smile. This doesn’t just mean with your patient. Anyone and everyone! The general vibe you are giving off is one of positivity, and that will relate back to the perception people have of you.
  2. Refocus your employees. Often times people start focusing on the FUNCTION of their roles. This might mean that your staff is viewing their role as completing the function of changing a wound dressing. You need to change your agency’s culture to focus on the purpose. Your purpose should be to deliver high quality health care and patient satisfaction. Once your employees walk into every visit focusing on their purpose, you’ll naturally see an improvement in your HHCAPS score, which means better ratings on Home Health Compare!
  3. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry. When things aren’t going right, learn to say sorry. If you’re unsure what to do, let the people know that you are going to find someone that can help them with their concerns. Don’t EVER say, I’m the wrong person or I can’t help you with that. Let them know you will find the right person to address their concerns. You’ll be much better off this way.
  4. Don’t compare yourself with other home health agencies, let Home Health Compare do that. You should try to compare yourself with top-of the line service industries. Hotels, restaurants, luxury spas. If you try to match their metrics for client satisfaction you will be headed in the right direction.
  5. Implement good systems. If you burden your team with bad systems and protocols, they won’t have the time to worry about your HHCAPS score. Consider implementing a point-of-care software that is easy to use and cuts down on paper-work and busy work time so that your team can have the extra time to deliver the additional touches to improve patient satisfaction. Choosing the right software for your agency can help improve your HHCAPS score.

Don’t focus on your Home Health Compare score, focus on your patients. You’re score will go up naturally. Start smiling as soon as you’re done reading this and you will be on your way to improving your score. A positive environment within your agency will create a positive experience for your care recipients.

How can a software help with this? Thats questionable. Attitude is attitude and its your responsibility to make sure that you hire people with positive attitudes. BUT, even the most positive person will get negative if they have to deal with a software that makes their lives harder consistently. So choose something fast, simple, and intelligent. Give us a call and we can help you figure out a way to keep your team happy while they are delivering high quality care.

Sources: https://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2015/01/11/8-ways-to-improve-patient-satisfaction-and-patient-experience-and-by-the-way-improve-hcahps-scores/#5630623e3c6e