The Role of Anesthesia Services in Hospital Reputation and Patient Satisfaction
Investing in quality anesthesia services is vital to your patient’s satisfaction, comfort and your hospital’s reputation. In today’s increasingly digital world, 81% of patients check online reviews before choosing a care provider, making it more important than ever to prioritize patient satisfaction. Here, we’ll explore how anesthesia services are critical to patient experiences.
Anesthesia Services as a Key Touchpoint in Patient Experience
Throughout a patient’s healthcare journey, they experience touchpoints in which they directly interact with service providers. Anesthesia professionals play a role in many critical touchpoints, including during preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care. Each of these phases of the healthcare process can spark feelings of anxiety in patients, making it vital that they’re working with confident, compassionate and knowledgeable care providers.
At CCI Anesthesia, we understand that each patient base requires a customized plan to thrive in today’s complex healthcare landscape. “We design solutions that are unique to each partner site’s surgical staff, staffing, and patient care needs,” says CCI Executive Vice President Nathan Yoder. “These solutions are durable, flexible, and sustainable.”
Measuring Patient Satisfaction in Anesthesia
Patient satisfaction is measured in a variety of ways, including:
- Patient satisfaction surveys
- Patient interviews
- Focus groups
- Feedback forms
- Online ratings and reviews
In addition to learning more about a patient’s experience, these measures contain questions that gather information specific to anesthesia, covering topics including preoperative communication, pain management, intraoperative care, postoperative care and overall satisfaction.
It can be difficult to gather feedback that is indicative of patients’ experiences, often because patients are still experiencing discomfort or pain during surveys or interviews as a natural part of the recovery process. Many patients don’t respond to surveys sent later.
Direct Impact of Anesthesia on Hospital Reputation
A 2018 study conducted at several hospitals in Saudi Arabia showed that communication is crucial to patient satisfaction. When anesthesiologists and other care team members explicitly tell patients what to expect before and after surgery, the gap between expectation and reality lessens. Nearly all patients satisfied with their anesthesia care say they would recommend their anesthesia team to their family members.
Strategies for Enhancing Anesthesia-Related Patient Satisfaction
Communication between providers and patients is vital to a positive anesthesia experience. During check-ins throughout the preoperative and postoperative processes, providers must remain patient-focused. This may require training for providers on how to manage patient expectations, ease anxiety and communicate clearly.
Pre- and Post-Operative Communication Tips
Current best practices for helpful communication between anesthesia care providers and patients include:
- Clear preoperative communication that addresses expectations, risks and benefits, and any personalized information (such as health conditions or type of surgery) that will impact the anesthesia process
- Active listening to encourage questions, provide empathy and give the patient reassurance that the provider will provide excellent care
- Collaborative decision-making to allow the patient to play an active role in their anesthesia and pain management plan
At CCI Anesthesia, we understand the importance of helping our providers relate to patients. At our Institute for Excellence, we offer training to improve provider-patient communication, leading to increased patient satisfaction. Many of our healthcare partners are excited to find that our strategies for improving anesthesia services align well with hospital-wide goals, allowing organizational leadership to foster a culture of excellence in the anesthesia department and beyond.
Leveraging Technology to Improve Patient Satisfaction
Today’s technology allows anesthesia professionals to understand the patient experience in new ways. Enhanced monitoring systems, pain management apps and increasingly effective communication protocols allow providers to improve the patient anesthesia experience. Working with anesthesia providers who understand how to leverage new technology effectively can lead to better patient reviews and a more positive hospital reputation.
Achieve Excellence in Care with CCI Anesthesia
Excellent anesthesia services are key to patient satisfaction and a positive hospital reputation. Contact CCI Anesthesia today to review your anesthesia services and discuss how we can help improve patient experiences.