November 10, 2008

Study Findings Show Consumerism

Dean Halverson

A Press Ganey Associates, Inc. report released recently put some more hard numbers to healthcare consumerism. The report, as published in MarketWatch, analyzes trends in patient satisfaction of nearly 2 million patients nationwide.

One key finding is that the entire patient experience is just as important to satisfaction as diagnosis and treatment. This includes making appointments, waiting, and spending time with healthcare professionals that are not a patient’s doctor. The report says that satisfaction is indirectly related to wait times and patient discomfort.

The report did not make connections between satisfaction and patient counts, but it still shows some simple things that practices and clinics can do to better please their consumers. And happier patients mean positive results for healthcare organizations.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/report-confirms-consumer-selection...

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