Patient Reviews VS Satisfaction Surveys

Patient Reviews VS Satisfaction Surveys

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Just like a majority of careers, you’re often reviewed and held accountable for your actions. In the case of healthcare professionals, patients have a variety of ways that they can review their experience. Some will opt to will out a patient review online, after completing treatment. Others will opt to fill out the patient satisfaction survey that is often given to a patient prior to discharge. While you can’t necessarily force patients to choose one option or the other, it’s still important to know the pros and cons of each. Below we’ll take a look at patient reviews VS satisfaction surveys so you can see how you and your practice are graded.

Patient Reviews VS Satisfaction Surveys

Patient Reviews

I’m sure you’ve heard of the review site Yelp or Angie’s List. Both of these are websites designed to allow customers to review a business at any time. Since your patients are your customers and your practice is the business, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of patient review sites that give them the opportunity to review the treatment they received while in your care. Online physician reviews have become a popular resource for patients seeking information about medical options, with 1 in 6 physicians being rated. When it comes to the patient reviews VS satisfaction surveys, these patient reviews can be performed at any time.

The fact that these reviews can be submitted at any time usually leaves health professionals provided. Some enjoy the fact that former patients can submit a review. These sites can also help bring in more patients, in turn keeping their practice thriving. Others will see these sites simply as a place to bash former health professionals. Some might give a negative review simply because they were not miraculously cured right away.

patient reviews VS satisfaction surveys

Luckily, these sites do have a vetting process to ensure that non-patients aren’t tainting your practice with made up reviews. Most sites will require that reviewers submit a receipt and some other information to prove that they were under the care of the health professional they are reviewing.

Satisfaction Surveys

Satisfaction surveys have been around for many years, and it’s one way that a health facility can determine areas of opportunity when it comes to improving care. The importance of patient satisfaction has increased in recent years, particularly with the implementation of Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP), part of CMS’ effort to link Medicare payment to a value-based system. Essentially, the better you satisfy your patients, the better assistance you’ll get from the government.

As many deal with the rising cost of health insurance, you can expect patients to be extra vigilant when it comes to the care they’re receiving. If you were spending a lot of money, you’d certainly want to ensure that you’re getting the best possible care.

In the patient reviews VS satisfaction surveys, it’s always important to think about the timing. Satisfaction surveys focus on immediacy. This means that you’ll get immediate consumer feedback from patients. One downside of having patients fill these surveys immediately after finishing treatment is the tendency to think emotionally. After receiving care, regardless of the severity, or the emotional toll it took, patients have a tendency to think emotionally. This is why satisfaction surveys can become skewed based on the emotions of patients.

Final Note

One final thing to consider is a survey published by the Mayo Clinic. According to the survey published this month, negative online physician reviews do not correlate with patient satisfaction surveys. Of the 2,148 physicians analyzed, 113 had negative online reviews spanning 28 departments. Results showed no statistical difference in overall scores or sources for patient communication and interaction. This is also something to consider. While there are various ways to that patients can review your performance, the first thing on your mind should be providing the best possible care.

If you’d like to chime in on the patient reviews VS satisfaction surveys debate, feel free to comment below. If you’re interested in a healthcare profession, be sure to check out our “jobs” page as well!

Author: Locum Jobs Online

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