The Long and the Short of It: Do You Want to Be Known for Keeping Patients Waiting?
As healthcare becomes more consumer driven, hospitals and clinics are paying close attention to all of the factors that create a positive patient experience. Of course, physician knowledge and bedside manner remain critical, as do the professionalism and demeanor of nurses and supporting staff. Also important is the comfort and cleanliness of the actual facility. A growing number of hospitals and clinics are focusing on ways to resolve one of the most persistently frustrating aspects of patient experience: time spent waiting. One of these forward-thinking organizations is Davis Medical Center, a Davis Health System hospital and customer of Securitas Healthcare.
In a recent RFID Journal article, Davis Medical Center’s Lead LPN and point-of-care testing coordinator, Tiffany Auvil, shares her organization’s priorities, successes and lessons learned when it comes to patient flow. It also explains how and why Davis invested in Securitas Healthcare’s Patient Flow Solution.
Along the way, Auvil raises an interesting idea: the role of wait times in brand and reputation. Auvil explains that Davis Medical Center’s outpatient clinic—which serves six counties in West Virginia—has experienced massive growth since 2015. On a typical day, the two-story outpatient clinic serves 200 to 250 patients across family practice, pediatrics, women’s care, podiatry and surgery.
“There are some health-care offices where patients may expect to be there all day, or for three or four hours,” she says in the story. “We don’t want to be one of those offices.”
When considering the value of patient flow visibility and analytics, we focus on quantifying the current situation and identifying opportunities to improve processes. That, of course, can fuel operational efficiency. It can provide insights for enhancing patient experience and clinician satisfaction. And, as Auvil suggests, it ultimately can help a hospital or clinic build a stronger brand among healthcare consumers.
Want to be known for a great patient experience—including short wait times? Find out how Davis did it by reading the full-length story.
