Consumer Satisfaction in Medical Practice

Consumer Satisfaction in Medical Practice will equip physicians and other decision makers in health care with the necessary tools to meet the growing demand for customers’satisfaction in medical practices. Addressing the deliverance of accurate and affective medical services, this intelligent guide provides you with proven techniques in order to provide competitive prices, convenience, accessibility, and quality outcomes to customers. Consumer Satisfaction in Medical Practice turns the delivery of health care toward the patient. Each recommendation will enable you to provide long-term and cost-effective benefits for customers and your company. Exposing common myths about medical practice, this knowledgeable book offers you a patient’s perspective on the services they need and request to help you offer your customers the appropriate services. From Consumer Satisfaction in Medical Practice, you will be able to give customers the medical services they want with the help of proven methods and suggestions which include:

• remembering that office budgets, profits for practitioners, and financial strengths of progressive hospitals and physician service organizations exist to help offer better health services to customers
• creating a consumers’bill of rights that ensures patients that they are receiving the best possible care for their money, that every patient has a right to their own medical information, and that every patient has a right to express grievances
• sending out newsletters and announcements of staff changes and changes to office hours to improve physician services to patients
• incorporating consumer satisfaction in employee and physician performance evaluations and setting standards for consumer satisfaction
• measuring physician staff and employee satisfaction along with that of the patient and payer to improve provider conditions and consumer satisfaction
• increasing physician satisfaction by recognition through awards and an incentive systemFeaturing several charts, tables, and suggestion boxes, this guide contains effective steps that you can institute in order to offer excellent care to your customers. Consumer Satisfaction in Medical Practice allows you to expand and improve customer satisfaction for the benefit of your customers and your business.

Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I: Understanding Consumer Satisfaction as a Way of Doing Business
• Chapter 1: Myths and Other Misunderstandings About Medical Practice
• Chapter 2: Looking at Health Care from the Patient’s Perspective
• Examining the Systems for Delivering Services
• Aligning Services with Patients’ Needs
• Some Points to Remember
• Chapter 3: Making Consumer Satisfaction a Way of Doing Business
• Adopting a Consumers’ Bill of Rights
• Becoming Consumer Oriented
• Recommendations for Making Consumer Satisfaction a Way of doing Business
• Chapter 4: Developing Consumer-Oriented Service
• The Physician’s Role in Developing a Consumer-Oriented Initiative
• How Consumers Select and Evaluate Physicians
• The role of Management in Developing a Consumer-Oriented Initiative
• The Role of Nonphysician Staff in Making a Consumer-Oriented Initiative Work
• Chapter 5: From Initial Call for Appointment to Billing: Treating the Patient Right
• Before the Appointment
• Establishing Rapport
• Defining the Patient’s Needs and Wants
• Solving Problems
• Turning Complaints into Routine Requests
• Making the Job Easier for the Health Care Provider
• Helping the Referred Patient
• Chapter 6: Follow Up on Good Service
• Effective Forms of Follow-Up Service
• Involving Patients and Their Families in the Evaluative Process
• Getting Consumers Actively Involved
• Consumer Satisfaction: A Summary
• Part II: Consumer Satisfaction in the Management of Medical Services
• Chapter 7: Managing Outcomes
• Why Multivariate Analysis?
• An Inferential Evaluative Approach
• Chapter 8: Applications
• Examples of Applications
• Chapter 9: How to Design and Apply Surveys of Consumers’ Satisfaction
• Measuring and Monitoring Consumer Satisfaction
• Selecting a Survey to Meet Your Needs
• Options for Collecting Information
• Examples of Surveys
• Chapter 10: Measuring Performance Against Standards
• Examples of Standard Criteria Evaluated
• Questions That Reflect Fact and Opinion
• Selecting a Format for Your Survey
• Quantifying Opinions: The Rating Method
• Procedures for Administering Surveys
• Collection of Information
• Chapter 11: Collection and Management of Data
• Central Coordination
• Requirements for Computerized Processing
• Noncomputerized Processing Procedures
• Planning for Computerized Systems
• Factors to Consider when Measuring Satisfaction
• Format for the Analysis
• Procedures for Descriptive Analysis of Data, with Illustrations
• Format for Inferential Analysis of Data, with Illustrations
• Chapter 12: Implementing Consumers’ Ratings of Satisfaction in Your Practice
• Patient Relations
• Support and Involvement of Management
• Input from and Participation by Employees
• Quality Assurance and risk Management
• Chapter 13: Quality Redefined
• Excellence Is Everything
• Quality, Consumer Satisfaction, and the Practice of Medicine
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• Reference Notes Included