Weekly News Roundup: March 8, 2019

Faced with challenges, such as mergers and acquisitions, legal mandates, and changing patient populations, many health systems struggle to maintain patient satisfaction. This week’s news roundup features questions about patient satisfaction: how mergers and acquisitions may harm patient satisfaction, and ways to increase it, from transparency about costs to leveraging technology. Across the pond, stisfaction with NHS falls to lowest level for a decade, with just 53% of people are happy with how the UK health service is run.

How Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions May Actually Harm Patient Satisfaction

Mergers and acquisitions have become the norm in healthcare, but they may negatively impact patient satisfaction and the perception of their care, a new study has found. The good news for patients is that clinical quality itself doesn’t seem to be affected one way or another by consolidation. Read More

To Increase Patient Satisfaction, Providers Need to Start Talking About Costs

Even as health systems confront rising healthcare costs and declining margins, they are under pressure to improve the patient experience, retain customer loyalty and collect patient payments. But while two-thirds of patients said cost strongly influences their overall satisfaction with their hospital or physician, nearly 60% of health systems do not discuss costs with patients, according to a survey from VisitPay, a patient financial engagement platform. Read More

How to Increase Patient Satisfaction by Leveraging Technology

While there’s no magic elixir that boosts HCAHPS scores, healthcare organizations are leveraging technology and data to modernize work already being done, build consistency into workflows, increase transparency across the organization, and drive culture change that improves patient care, and in turn, increases patient satisfaction.
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Mobile Devices Boost Patient and Clinician Satisfaction

Traditional communication devices, such as pagers, have finally begun to give way to more modern tools in healthcare organizations. Smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices are making headway in modern treatment centers and effectively streamlining clinician communication while simultaneously improving patient satisfaction. Read More

Satisfaction with NHS Falls to Lowest Level for a Decade

Just 53% of people are happy with how health service is run, the lowest proportion since 2007 Public satisfaction with the NHS is at its lowest level for a decade despite Theresa May’s 20.5bn-a-year funding boost and the enthusiasm created by the service’s 70th birthday. Barely half of people surveyed (53%) are happy with how the NHS is run, the lowest percentage since 2007. Read More