Increasing Employee Satisfaction Leads to Better Patient Satisfaction
The simple mathematics of satisfaction in healthcare amounts to the correlation between employee engagement and patient well-being. Increase one, the other goes up too. Both of these directly impact the patients’ satisfaction1. Strategies for increasing employee engagement include granting greater employee autonomy, allowing them to make as many choices as possible. The more agency they have, the more in control they feel, because they are. In addition look for as many opportunities to implement their input as possible, they’re the ones directly interacting with patients the most and are going to have ideas on how to improve and streamline that interaction. They know how to provide care, their input is important.
Other strategies include career development opportunities, which allow them to progress towards self-improvement as well as increases their utility in a professional setting. In addition to teaching new skills and abilities, this will provide employees with a sense of novelty that’s key to staving off burnout and sustaining occupational engagement. Office culture also plays a huge role in satisfaction. Making mission statements, taking steps to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all staff, curating a safe environment, and providing constructive feedback as well as supportive praise will all improve morale and chemistry in the office.
Offering opportunities to demonstrate competence and capability and then subsequently willingly praising the employee goes a long way in fostering trust and building relationships. Dare I say it, it’s easier to work with people you’re friendly and congenial with. These positive interpersonal relationships will translate into better employee performance. This also means better patient care, which means increased patient satisfaction, every practitioner’s goal.
Written by Jeremiah Ockunzzi, courtesy of Bart Rademaker, M.D.
1) https://www.physicianspractice.com/view/seven-ways-improve-patient-satisfaction?page=3
