6. Listen and learn
There is a lot of focus on
getting patients to fill out
satisfaction surveys. But
do you listen to what the
patients are saying once
you get those survey
responses back?
"We're very lucky that
we have repeat patients,"
says James McClung, BSN,
RN, administrator at the Center of Specialty Surgery in Austin, Texas.
"Those people, when they come back and say something, you tend to
listen to them. They usually have very good ideas. Very rarely do you
have your clients telling you exactly what they want. So if you're not
listening to them, you're probably going to be in some trouble."
The center has just 7 questions on its patient satisfaction survey, the
most important one being, "Would you return to this facility?" Patients
have several options to submit the survey, including filling it out
before they leave the facility, mailing it in or entering it online. In addi-
tion, the center has a random drawing on a quarterly basis for a $100
gift card to encourage people to fill out the survey and get it back to
the center.
"Patient satisfaction is No. 1. If we don't have patients, we're not
here," says Mr. McClung. "We do little things taken from those patient
surveys, like making our front lobby warmer or greeting people at the
door. Those things might not affect reimbursement, but the bottom
line is affected thoroughly. Therefore, if you have direct communica-
tion with a patient, then you definitely want to hear that and address
it appropriately."
6 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 8
The center has just 7
questions on its patient
satisfaction survey, the
most important one
being, "Would you
return to this facility?"
