The Power of Hospital Surveys

In a hospital, every second matters.  There are no “Sorry, We’re Closed” signs.  Processes must be created and enforced to ensure that patients receive world-class care 24 hours a day.  While typical standards can be found in every hospital, various hospitals have different ways of conducting daily business depending on their specialties, clientele, or even region.  However, not every aspect of the hospital may be up to par.  Or it may be a great hospital for doctors, but not necessarily the patients.  Hospital management teams are realizing the power of survey research and how to use the data to make both doctors and patients happy.

Hospital employees provide patient care.  It’s absolutely vital to ensure that their jobs are as streamlined as possible so that they can focus on patients.  Ineffective procedures and misaligned ways of doing business can lead to fewer patients being cared for, or employees being stretched too thin to offer the best care.  More and more hospitals are using employee surveys to gather information on critical employee dynamics such as engagement and satisfaction.  A survey allows employees to be heard.  Hospital employees are the boots on the ground that truly understand what is working and what isn’t.  They likely have many great suggestions as well.  It’s up to leadership to make sure that steps are taken to make the hospital a great place to work.  The best place to start is to ask the employees to share their opinions.

On the other side of the coin, hospital patients are potentially fighting for their lives each and every day.  If there are gaps in the healthcare, or any needs not being tended to, you can be sure that they know about them.  It should also go without saying that when dealing with a person’s health, having too many unsatisfied patients is a sure-fire way to hurt your hospital’s reputation and may result in fewer patient visits.  People may not be willing to drive an extra mile to a particular grocery store.  But when it comes to health issues, they will go where they can receive the best care.  A healthcare survey will indicate how your hospital compares to other local hospitals, and how often your hospital is recommended over the competition.

Hospitals are taking advantage of surveys to ensure that standards are met and any gaps in patient care are closed immediately.  We recommend surveying your employees, physicians, and patients to establish baseline scores.  Then, resurvey periodically to gauge the effectiveness of your improvement initiatives. Contact us today to ensure your level of care is the top in your region.