In most industries, the customer plays a critical role in a company’s messaging, reputation, and brand loyalty. This hasn’t always been the case for the healthcare sector, but that’s about to change. Effective January 2013, the power now lies with the customer. Federal funding for all public healthcare facilities is now tied to patient experience, measured through post-visit patient surveys. The standardization of The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey now places a premium on customer satisfaction and quality care. 

 

How will the HCAHPS survey affect healthcare industries?

The HCAHPS looks to improve the quality of patient care by rewarding positive patient experience scores with increased Federal Government funding. The survey captures customer satisfaction, aiming to improve the transparency of patient care and presenting a meaningful comparison between hospitals. With each hospital now publicly rated, this customer experience score directly affects the amount of Federal funding hospitals receive, punishing facilities with low scores. Healthcare providers’ priorities are now realigned to focus on patient quality and experience. 

 

Customer-obsession in healthcare

Whether the customer is an elderly patient or an online shopper, organizations must cater to their customer’s needs, seeking positive and consistent engagements. Bluewolf asserts that customer experience deeply affects a company's profitability—and that to improve engagement, organizations must be customer-obsessed. In the case of healthcare, customer experience directly affects profits through funding allocation. Harnessing flexible technologies like cloud, social, and mobile, allows for increased quality customer interaction on multiple channels in real-time. It’s these technologies, processes, and cultures that are driving the emerging Customer Engagement Economy.

 

Did you know that 70% of customer decisions are based on emotion and 73% of customers will spend more with a company because of a history of good service?

 

This is hugely important—these stats highlight how customer service and engagement need to be high priorities for all organizations. 

So, how can healthcare providers directly increase patient experience and increase their HCAHPS scores? Bluewolf breaks it down into three key focus areas: 

 

Evaluate & Discover 

Your ability to engage customers and drive growth starts with knowing where you are and where you need to go. Bluewolf has the unique ability to assess your organization’s maturity and discover the opportunities that will ignite growth. We meet with all levels within your organization to evaluate four areas of your business: technology, process, people, and collaboration.

 

Efficiency & Productivity 

Once an assessment of your organization has been made, it’s time to move forward with increasing efficiency, both customer experience and employee knowledge. With the help of mobile applications, healthcare organizations can get leaps and bounds ahead of their competitors with real time documentation of patient records. Learn on the go and ditch the clipboard!

 

Visibility & Engagement 

Building visibility and credibility into your business is crucial for producing both satisfied employees and customers. It’s this internal and external transparency that reinforces a positive customer experience. Ensure both patients, caregivers, and medical professionals are accurately educated and informed with the best practices for each interaction.

 

In an industry so focused on well-being, it is surprising that customer experience has taken a backseat for so long. The good news is that those times are over, and with the standardization of the HCAHPS, patient experience is now top of mind for the healthcare industry. Bluewolf gives healthcare organizations the tools to ensure their patients have a consistent and exceptional experience every time—see how we can help.