81% of US Consumers Dissatisfied with Healthcare Experience

A new study reveals that a large gap exists between the healthcare experience consumers perceive and what providers believe they are offering.

The study commissioned by Prophet (San Francisco, VA, USA) and GE Healthcare Camden Group (Chicago, IL, USA) found that despite the fact that consumer frustrations are high, hospital CEOs surveyed did not place patient satisfaction among their top five priorities. In fact, they said they struggle to prioritize patient satisfaction against competing priorities, such as adapting to changing government regulations, growing consolidation pressures, and the transformation from volume to value-based care.

Healthcare providers overestimated the overall quality of the experience they provide by more than 20%, and as healthcare systems consolidate and the transformation of payment and care models accelerates, patient experience appears to be getting worse, not better. For example, between 2013 and 2014, the healthcare industry saw a 14% increase in consolidation, and a 3% decline in patient satisfaction. The report authors claim, however, that investments toward enhancing the patient experience (if done correctly) will help improve an organization’s operational efficiency and bottom line.

To help overcome this challenge, Prophet and GE Healthcare Camden Group have integrated their expertise in patient experience strategy and operational and change management to create a 360-degree patient experience offering. This could help healthcare providers develop a holistic patient experience strategy that supports organizational priorities, and successfully implement a data-driven and cost-effective plan that will drive efficiencies, fix experience gaps, improve the patient experience, and impact the health systems’ key financial targets.

“Providers are struggling to adapt to the rising culture of ‘consumerism,’ which has heightened people’s expectations. The power has shifted to the consumer in nearly every industry, and now its healthcare’s turn,” said Paul Schrimpf, co-lead of Prophet’s healthcare practice. “As consolidation streamlines the number of healthcare players in a market, the ones left standing and thriving will be the systems that provide a differentiated and exceptional experience for its patrons.”

“The priorities of health system leadership and their patients are not in conflict. For both parties, wait time is wasted time,” said Helen Stewart, managing principal at GE Healthcare. “The common misperception is that focusing on the patient experience means spending less time on other cost and revenue initiatives, which doesn’t have to be the case. Investments to improve the patient experience can drive both growth and cost reduction.”

“The results of our study prove that to be successful, healthcare providers need to modernize their approach to patient experience,” said Laura Jacobs, president of the GE Healthcare Camden Group. “Creating better and more holistic experiences doesn’t just mean happier patients. It translates to increased capacity, lower operating costs, improved financial performance, and higher employee satisfaction and retention. For healthcare providers, the key to profitability and longevity lies in their ability to deliver a superior consumer experience.”

Related Links:
Prophet
GE Healthcare Camden Group