Quality

Tips on Patient Care

In an article called “That Loving Feeling,”  Judy Capko gives some tips for providers on how to treat patients.  Some gems include:

  • “A sign in sheet is an excuse to ignore patients.”
  • Nurses and receptionists need to introduce themselves.  Otherwise, patients just feel if they are another name in the schedule.
  • Ambience makes a difference.  An NBER working paper found that practice amenities make a big difference in perceived quality.
  • Each new patient arrival should be assisted within 60 seconds.

1 Comment

  1. What incentives for practices have to do this when the patient has no influence over what gets paid? The practice doesn’t work for the patient–they work for insurance companies.

    If patients paid for more of their own medical care those features would be what we’d expect and have and be the norm–because there would be incentives to keep patients happy.

    Third party payers corrupt service in the medical field, and yet that issue is absent on the policy level for most of the thinkers.

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