Clinical Quality vs. Patient Satisfaction?

I know your thinking that clinical quality is all that should matter in healthcare. The most amazing thing is that you are right. Patients come to an Emergency Department with an understanding that you will make the right diagnosis. You go to bed every night thinking about your clinical decisions and work very hard on your clinical acumen to be a great health care professional. Your patients and Chairman expect that from you. Is it good enough to be average in healthcare? Average means some of the time you are making poor decisions which may cause injury to patients. Medicine is a constant strive for perfection, even though we can't obtain it, it is the goal of every healthcare institution.

Is this any different in other industries that pertain to life and death? When you get on an airline for your next medical conference and it is in Las Vegas, Do you expect to land in Idaho? You expect to arrive in Las Vegas, God forbid not on time; that competence is a given.

Would that airline ever get another consumer again if it couldn't deliver that?

On that same flight, what made you satisfied?

How you were treated?

Were you treated with respect?

Were your questions answered?

Were you made comfortable?

If you answered no to these questions,would you Recommend that airline to someone else?

There is no difference between Clinical Quality and Customer Quality anymore in healthcare. That boat sailed long ago, forget crying about it and let me teach you how to succeed in it.

Your CEO believes in it , your Chairman believes in it. Your job may depend on it.

Well at least I hope managers in your institution care , because really Customer Service makes your job easier.

If you work in a place that doesn't care about patient satisfaction than you are saying you don't care about :

Alignment of resources

Streamlined and proven Processes

Accountability of people.

Are you fighting all day with your patients?

If so.... keep reading