Healthcare is transitioning to a model focused on value and surgery centers failing to employ a patient-centric outlook may not bode well moving forward. Sandy Berreth, RN, administrator at Sansum Clinic Foothill Surgical Center in Santa Barbara, Calif., has worked in the healthcare industry for nearly 40 years. Segueing into the ASC landscape about 18 years ago, she knows what it takes for surgery centers to achieve success in the wake of industry changes.
"As the healthcare industry has floated away from fee-for-service to a value-based care model, it is increasingly important for ASCs to focus on delivering the highest quality care," Ms. Berreth says.
Ms. Berreth draws on her nursing and administrative background to provide key tips for surgery centers to bolster the patient experience.
1. Create a connection with the patients. Surgery center staff members often wear many hats, which may pose challenges when forming a unique relationship with every patient. However, Ms. Berreth notes ASCs should not undermine the importance of this connection, especially because patients may have concerns about their health and want physicians and other medical personnel to alleviate some of these worries through a valuable discussion.
"A patient must feel like they're not just another case," Ms. Berreth says. "We always introduce ourselves to the patient and their family."
2. Provide realistic expectations. In the consumer-driven healthcare system, patients are increasingly responsible for their care and ASCs should therefore make patients fully aware of what they can expect during the entire episode of care. A staff member should delve into logistical information with the patient such as what the procedure will entail, when the procedure is occurring and the procedure's duration.
3. Obtain patient feedback and make necessary changes. Sansum Clinic Foothill Surgical Center actively seeks patient feedback. Within a week of the surgery, patients are contacted online with a survey. Complacency may be detrimental to an ASC's success in maintaining and accruing more patients. Identifying areas for improvement will allow a surgery center to provide an excellent experience for every patient they serve.
"Like hospitals and physician offices, we want patients to recommend the ASC they visited to family and friends," Ms. Berreth says. "If patients are dissatisfied, they [ASCs] should do a root-cause analysis to discover why the patient was unhappy and implement changes immediately."
4. Get leadership on board. Creating a patient-centric culture is a team effort that starts with a surgery center's leadership. Ms. Berreth notes for every staff member to prioritize the patient experience, leadership has to exemplify this ideology and show they are committed to patient.
"If leaders are committed to the culture change, the support will trickle down throughout the entire staff," she adds.
Read more of Sandy's tips for enhancing customer service in ASCs in Medline's Outpatient Outcomes magazine by visiting https://www.medline.com/pages/outpatient-outcomes-download-the-latest-issue/