hospital visit experience

The Hospital Visit Experience of the Future

December 11, 2023

In the world of healthcare, hospitals have long prioritized functionality and affordability, often at the expense of the patient experience. We’ve all walked through the cold, sterile corridors of a hospital. The experience can feel outdated or even intimidating. The lack of personalization is daunting—especially in a day and age when so many other customer experiences are effortless.

Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to reimagine the entire patient experience. It’s time to ask ourselves if existing technology can be wrapped in cohesive, patient-centric packages, or if it’s time to embrace new, transformative technologies.

The Patient Experience Starts Before Entering The Building

Finding a healthcare provider and booking an appointment can feel like navigating a maze. Verifying insurance coverage and understanding financial responsibilities can be complex and time-consuming. But what if we could make this process as seamless as ordering food online?  Imagine a world where finding the right doctor is as easy as ordering your favorite meal.

Arrival and Registration: Streamlining the First Steps

Arriving at the hospital and completing registration often involves paperwork, identity verification, and waiting in crowded waiting rooms. Undergoing medical assessments, tests and examinations can be a stressful and anxiety-inducing experience. To top it off, communication barriers in understanding a diagnosis or treatment options can put extra strain on an already stressful experience. 

Consider how the patient’s journey into and through the hospital begins before they physically arrive. Personalized communication, delivered in a timely manner, can be used to help deliver maps and directions, to help inform patients about how the check-in process will work and what materials to bring with them. Technology like near-field communication (NFC) technology can be used for patient identification, tracking within the hospital, and even making contactless payments for services.

Inside the Modern Hospital Room: A Technological Revolution

The hospital room itself is undergoing a transformation. Leveraging innovative tools such as IoT devices, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, helps hospitals streamline operations and improve care coordination.

Technology empowers patients to take an active role in their healthcare journey and experience. Even small comforts can make a big difference during a hospital stay. Voice-controlled artificial intelligence (AI) devices—similar to the Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant consumers have in their homes—can be integrated into hospital rooms. The same kind of AI-based systems could allow patients to order their preferred meals, request assistance,  or adjust the lighting or room temperature from a device by their bedside.  

Post-Discharge: Ensuring Continuity of Care

The patient’s journey doesn’t end when they leave the hospital. Building user portals is a great start, but it’s only the beginning. Patients should receive relevant and essential information through channels they prefer, like text messages or mobile apps. Remote monitoring devices can enable healthcare professionals to continually track a patient’s vital signs and health remotely. In addition, sharing caregiver information and materials with those in charge of aftercare is a key aspect of better patient outcomes.

Whether for routine check-ups, follow-up consultations or treatment plan discussions, regular and timely communication and engagement between patients, caregivers, and clinicians leads to a more connected healthcare experience. Accessibility and convenience fosters a stronger patient-provider relationship as patients become more informed, involved, and in control of their health journey.

Better Patient Experiences Are Good for Hospitals, Too

Improved patient experiences aren’t just good for consumers. Among the benefits for healthcare providers are improved operational efficiency, real time access to patient data collected outside the hospital room, better monitoring of pain levels, and freed up clinical time that can be spent on patient care. 

Engaging physicians and staff in the strategy, design and implementation process is crucial. Their insights can ensure that the technology aligns with clinical workflows and patient care practices. Not to mention training and education as well as ongoing maintenance.

Are We There Yet?

This hospital visit of the future doesn’t have to remain a distant dream. There are many ways today that we can better leverage technology, while building toward greater digital transformation in the future. By tackling the transformation step by step, we can make hospital visits not just functional but also truly human-centric. It’s time to bridge the gap between healthcare and hospitality, ensuring that every patient’s journey is as comfortable and reassuring as possible. Together, we can do things better and then do better things! We look forward to building a future where hospitals are places of healing and empathy, where technology enhances rather than hinders the patient experience.

Katy Allen is an EVP, Managing Director, Health+ at Bounteous, a digital transformation agency co-innovating with some of the world’s most innovative brands.

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Simple steps to enhance the patient experience can improve your experience as well.

ERIN MORCOMB, MD, KRISTINA SCHLECHT, MD, AND EDWARD MALONE, III, MD

Fam Pract Manag. 2022;29(2):27-32

Author disclosures: no relevant financial relationships.

As you are preparing to see a new patient today, you reflect on the brief notes you made while reviewing his previous medical records and doing pre-visit planning with your team. According to documentation from his prior family physician, Leon Backer played Division I college football at the University of Notre Dame. Now in his mid-50s, Mr. Backer has moved to your community and works as a financial planner. After knocking on the exam room door, you enter and introduce yourself, greet Mr. Backer using his preferred name, sit down facing him, and start the conversation by talking about something you figure will capture his interest: college football and his time at Notre Dame.

You know the importance of first impressions. Before you even enter the exam room Mr. Backer has already had multiple interactions — with the receptionist who scheduled the appointment, the staff member who welcomed him to the clinic, the medical assistant who took his vital signs, etc. You explain the roles of each staff member and their importance to the team.

You ask what has brought him to town and how the transition has been for him and his family. In reading his social history, you recall he has two children, the oldest of whom has just started college. After chatting for a bit, you move on to the purpose of the visit by asking, “What do you hope we accomplish today?”

He wants to talk about high cholesterol, so you add that to the agenda. When you later bring up COVID-19 vaccination, he expresses hesitancy and says he's not willing to receive the vaccine today. You ask if you may call him in a week to reassess. He smiles and says that you may. You set a reminder in the EHR so that you will follow through on this commitment.

As you end your first visit together, you thank him for giving you the opportunity to be his family physician. You have established a sense of trust, started ongoing dialogue, and set a plan of care in place. You have also set expectations for your relationship and discussed your communication and follow-up plans, which your staff has detailed in a visit summary.

As Mr. Backer leaves the exam room to check out and arrange a follow-up video visit after his fasting labs, you cannot resist the urge to say, “Go Irish!”

A week later, when you call him as promised, he is surprised that you followed through. He agrees to come in and get his first COVID vaccine, which you had discussed at the prior visit. “It must be important if you took the time to call me,” he says.

A positive patient experience is the result of multiple factors and interactions throughout the patient journey.

Physicians and their teams can improve the patient experience through practical steps, such as expanding visit options, using pre-visit planning to keep visits organized, and involving patients in their care decisions.

To improve visits, try simple strategies such as sitting down, avoiding medical jargon, providing visit summaries, and using the “teach-back” technique.

WHY IT MATTERS

Enhancing the patient experience is part of the Quadruple Aim in health care, along with improving population health, reducing costs, and improving the work life of clinicians and staff. 1 There are many benefits to be gained by improving the patient experience. Positive patient experience correlates to continuous improvement in processes of care, adherence to medical advice and treatment plans, and often better health outcomes. 2 – 4 Keeping a close watch on the entire patient experience can reveal important system problems, such as gaps in communication, delays in test results, and bottlenecks that prevent timely responses to patient concerns and questions. Addressing these issues can lead to a more positive experience for physicians and staff as well.

A positive patient experience is the result of multiple factors and interactions throughout the patient journey. This article presents 14 tips to consider.

1. Share the work . Like most things in medicine, an exceptional patient experience requires teamwork. The physician cannot deliver a great patient experience alone. The entire medical team plays a role, including reception, nursing, and rooming staff. From the moment patients arrive for the visit until they leave, they view everything and everyone they encounter as part of the appointment with their physician. 2 , 5 – 8 Therefore, a bad experience at the front desk or during rooming could affect your visit with the patient in the exam room. Make sure everyone on your team is properly trained and accountable for providing an excellent patient experience, and emphasize its importance during routine team huddles and staff meetings.

2. Be flexible with appointment times and visit types . When patients have scheduling conflicts or pressing problems, try to have a “yes” attitude and look for creative ways to fit them into your schedule 2 , 7 — within reason, of course. This isn't always possible, but patients need to know that we are willing to work with them and find a time that is convenient for their schedule and ours. Telehealth visits and patient portal interactions have become popular ways to expand visit options and give patients more timely access to care. 2 , 9 Visits with nurses or nonphysician providers are additional options for expanding access, depending on the patient's problem.

3. Take steps to stay on time . This is difficult in a busy practice, especially when you're trying to accommodate patients and fit them in. At times, we will all fall behind, but don't resign yourself to always running late. Review your schedule regularly with your staff and make sure there is an appropriate length of time assigned to each patient appointment. Set a clear, shared agenda at the start of each visit and defer less-pressing issues to a future visit. Identify tasks you can delegate to staff, such as visit summaries or aspects of documentation, allowing you to move on to the next patient. If needed, take a look at deeper issues as well, such as panel size and staffing levels. If you do get behind schedule by more than 15 minutes, have your staff notify patients in a timely manner of the delay and give them the option to reschedule. 2 , 7 For patients who need to reschedule, contacting them later that day to apologize is an added touch.

4. Get organized with pre-visit planning . Pre-visit work is especially necessary for new patients. Making an effort to become familiar with their case prior to their appointment demonstrates commitment to their care. When visits are disorganized and staff are unprepared, this can lead to a chaotic experience for the patient and a lack of confidence in the care received, especially if crucial aspects of the visit are missed and the patient needs to come back to have them addressed later. Pre-visit planning should not just be the physician's responsibility; everyone on the health care team should work at the top of their skill level to help prepare for the upcoming day. Staff can take on tasks such as organizing patient charts, obtaining test results and other necessary information, and identifying care gaps. Use your EHR to its full capacity by consistently updating problem lists to streamline future chart review.

5. Be present . Sit down during the patient encounter, 10 face the patient directly, and look at the patient, not the computer. This may save you time in the long run. Studies have shown that patients think that their doctors spent more time with them if the doctors do not interrupt and focus their full attention on their patients at the visit's start, even if the visit is short. 10 Maintaining eye contact helps patients see that your full attention is focused on them and that you are actively listening to their concerns. This can be challenging in a busy clinic when we are trying to be efficient with documentation and satisfy health maintenance requirements, but it is fundamental to patients feeling as if they are being heard.

6. Start the visit with an open-ended question . For example, you might ask, “How have you been since I last saw you?” Let patients talk about what they want before you interject, 11 , 12 even if the topic is not medicine-related. This will build rapport and make patients feel more comfortable. If patients present a long list of issues they want to address, use agenda-setting skills to identify the most critical topics to cover at the current appointment and reserve the others for a future visit.

7. Involve patients in their care as much as possible . Allowing patients autonomy or perceived autonomy in decisions helps them to feel actively involved in their care, enhances buy-in and trust, and is an important facet of ethical care. 3 , 6 , 12 – 13 Physicians need to move from a prescriptive practice of medicine, where we simply tell our patients what to do, to a more progressive form of care where we have open dialogue and exchange ideas with our patients and include their viewpoints. Patients still need our guidance and recommendations about the standard of care for their condition, but they are the ultimate decision makers.

8. Avoid medical jargon . Medical verbiage is second nature for clinicians, but it may prevent patients from understanding us. For example, use simple words like “fast heart rate” instead of “tachycardia” and describe test results as “normal” not “unremarkable” or “negative.” Patients are frequently reluctant to interrupt a physician or to seek clarification for fear that they will sound unknowledgeable. To counter this, invite your patients to speak up if they do not understand something. 6 , 11 Speaking to patients at a junior high or high school level is generally advisable; however, this does need to be individualized because some patients are more medically savvy and prefer formal medical terms. Because of the continuity of care family physicians offer, we are well-positioned to understand patients' preferences and their level of comprehension and then tailor our language to their individual needs.

9. Communicate beyond the visit . Communication is crucial to an excellent patient experience. 4 , 6 , 11 , 13 This includes giving clear instructions during the patient visit as well as providing information the patient may need after the visit. Studies have shown that patients typically remember only a small fraction of what was discussed. 14 A helpful practice is to give patients a visit summary, for example, by typing out instructions regarding medication changes, the plan of care, and anticipated follow up and then printing that information for patients or sending it through the portal so they can refer to it later. 9 These summary notes should be concise and focused on the most important aspects of the visit so they are easy to understand. 2 , 6 , 11 Additionally, having the patient “teach back” what you have discussed helps to gauge understanding and ensure you are both on the same page. 14

10. Approach differences with an open mind . Patients often have strong opinions and make choices we disagree with, but responding with cynicism or a judgmental perspective ultimately makes us less effective. Instead, work to create an environment in which all patients are welcomed and treated with respect from the moment they walk in the clinic's front door. 2 , 5 , 6 When a patient expresses a strong opinion that differs from your medical expertise, try to listen with your full attention and be curious and respectful. 6 , 7 , 12 Sometimes you can find common ground, which you can then build on at future visits. You can also use motivational interviewing to explore whether patients are open to change and what small steps they might be willing to take. 15

11. Remember personal details (or have your EHR remember them) . The EHR can be a great tool for building rapport with patients. Use it to remember unique details in the patient's social history (e.g., “college student studying English literature,” “has a dog named Scooby,” “world traveler,” “volleyball player,” or “avid reader”). When you see the patient in the future, bringing up these personal details builds connection and trust. 2 , 12 Simply noticing that their birthday is approaching and wishing them a “happy birthday” can also be a nice personalized touch. Making note of patients' preferred pronouns or preferred name also shows that you care for them as unique individuals.

12. Follow through on commitments and efficiently coordinate care . This includes having a quick turnaround time on phone messages, refill requests, portal messages, test results, and other key aspects of patient care. 2 , 6 – 8 Teamwork and appropriate delegation of tasks are key. Teach your staff to proficiently and thoroughly review patient messages and refill requests and include all necessary information before forwarding these requests to you. This way, you can spend less time reviewing the chart and can quickly and efficiently complete inbox tasks. You and your team are experts in navigating the complex medical system, and patients often need you to guide them. This may mean sending a message or making a phone call to a specialist colleague to find answers and expedite the care of a patient, asking your staff to call the patient's pharmacy to reconcile the medication list, or having your front-desk staff obtain the patient's medical records from other facilities.

13. Call the patient yourself when results are sensitive or complex . Sometimes the physician needs to be the one to call the patient personally rather than delegating this to other staff. This is particularly true if complex instructions or bad news needs to be relayed. 13 Letters and portal messages are fine to communicate good news, less urgent results, or simple instructions, but for bad news and significantly abnormal results that will require extensive follow-up care, a phone call or in-person visit is best. This decreases the chance for medical errors and confusion in conveying your message and gives you an opportunity to let patients know that you care and are there to support them. 13

14. Set reminders in your EHR to assist with patient care and follow up . Reminders can be sent to yourself, your rooming staff, or another member of your care team. They can be cues to call a patient or send a portal message a few weeks after a medication change, for example, or to follow up on a procedure the patient had at a specialty clinic or another major event. Your patients will feel valued and know that you are concerned, interested, and committed to their overall health when you (or your staff) remember to follow up on their care. 2 , 12

THE CORE OF PRIMARY CARE

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of improving the patient experience is building a trusting relationship with the person sitting across from us. This person is more than just a patient. They are an individual with a unique story. They have taken time off work or school to come in and see us, and they want to feel heard and be remembered. They want us to be respectful of their time and their issues. They want to understand the information we are communicating to them. They want us to advocate for them and take their issues seriously. And they want to know that we see them for who they are — with all their flaws and all their goodness.

By staying true to the defining elements of primary care — including accessibility, continuity, comprehensiveness, and interpersonal treatment 8 — we are sure to improve not only the patient experience but our own.

Bodenheimer T, Sinsky C. From triple to quadruple aim: care of the patient requires care of the provider. Ann Fam Med . 2014;12(6):573-576.

Rave N, Geyer M, Reeder B, Ernst J, Goldberg L, Barnard C. Radical systems change: innovative strategies to improve patient satisfaction. J Ambul Care Manage . 2003;26(2):159-174.

Greenfield S, Kaplan S, Ware JE. Expanding patient involvement in care: effects on patient outcomes. Ann Intern Med . 1985;102(4):520-528.

Why improve patient experience? In: The CAHPS Ambulatory Care Improvement Guide . Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; 2017:6–10.

Plsek P. Building a mind-set of service excellence. Fam Pract Manag . 2002;9(4):41-46.

Grocott A, McSherry W. The patient experience: informing practice through identification of meaningful communication from the patient’s perspective. Healthcare (Basel) . 2018;6(1):26.

Sequist TD, Schneider EC, Anastario M, et al.; Quality monitoring of physicians: linking patients’ experiences of care to clinical quality and outcomes. J Gen Intern Med . 2008;23(11):1784-1790.

Safran DG, Taira DA, Rogers WH, Kosinski M, Ware JE, Tarlov AR. Linking primary care performance to outcomes of care. J Fam Pract . 1998;47(3):213-220.

Sieck CJ, Hefner JL, McAlearney AS. Improving the patient experience through patient portals: insights from experienced portal users. Patient Experience Journal . 2018;5(3):47-54.

Swayden KJ, Anderson KK, Connelly LM, Moran JS, McMahon JK, Arnold PM. Effect of sitting vs. standing on perception of provider time at bedside: a pilot study. Patient Educ Couns . 2012;86(2):166-171.

Haskard Zolnierek KB, DiMatteo MR. Physician communication and patient adherence to treatment: a meta-analysis. Med Care . 2009;47(8):826-834.

Pawar M. Five tips for generating patient satisfaction and compliance. Fam Pract Manag . 2005;12(6):44-46.

Ha JF, Longnecker N. Doctor-patient communication: a review. Ochsner J . 2010;10(1):38-43.

Bodenheimer T. Teach-back: a simple technique to enhance patients’ understanding. Fam Pract Manag . 2018;25(4):20-22.

Stewart EE, Fox C. Encouraging patients to change unhealthy behaviors with motivational interviewing. Fam Pract Manag . 2011;18(3):21-25.

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5 Principles to Improve the Patient Experience

• John Glaser

Patients are consumers too — a reality that providers have often ignored when building digital interfaces.

Health care providers are now trying to leverage the ever-expanding array of digital technologies to enhance the patient experience. But in doing so, they must remember that patients are consumers — a reality that providers have often ignored in the past. But as they digitize processes, provider should keep in mind that while tech advances are creating opportunities to deliver exceptional consumer experiences, creating such experience involves more than applying technology.

A focus on improving the consumer experience and leveraging digital technologies as a foundation for enhancing that experience has been a modest priority for health systems. Recently, however, this focus has become an urgent strategic imperative. Providers note that consumers’ expectations of health care services are rising. They are watching with concern as new entrants, with well-developed digital capabilities — retailers, technology startups, companies based on new models of care, and pharmacies — step up to serve the increasingly demanding consumer. A recent Deloitte-Scottsdale Institute survey of health systems’ digital transformation initiatives found that 92% of health systems cited consumer satisfaction and engagement as a top goal of their investments.

• John Glaser is an executive in residence at Harvard Medical School. He previously served as the CIO of Partners Healthcare (now Mass General Brigham), a senior vice president at Cerner, and the CEO of Siemens Health Services. He is co-chair of the HL7 Advisory Council and a board member of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

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Understanding the Patient Experience: A Conceptual Framework

Patrick oben.

1 MercyOne Des Moines, Des Moines, IA, USA

The patient experience is now globally recognized as an independent dimension of health-care quality. However, although patients, providers, health-care managers, and policy-makers agree on its importance, there is no standardized definition of the patient experience. A clear understanding of the basic concepts that make up the foundation of the patient experience is more important than a statement defining the patient experience. The fundamental nature of health care involves people taking care of other people in unique times of distress. Thus, the human experience is at the very core of understanding what the patient experience is. This article reviews a framework of the basic human experience of patients as they progress from being unique, healthy individuals to a state of experiencing both disease and health-care services. This novel framework naturally leads to a basic understanding of the patient experience as a human experience of health-care services.

Introduction

Throughout the world, the patient experience is recognized as an independent dimension of health-care quality, along with clinical effectiveness and patient safety ( 1 , 2 ). Health-care organizations across the United States are focusing on how to “deliver a superior patient experience” ( 3 ). Quality is a key driver of these industry-wide changes, as are the shifts in health-care policy that have tied hospital and physician compensation to patient experience measures, the focus on patient engagement, and the emergence of the consumer mindset ( 2 , 4 ).

Despite the increasingly important role that the patient experience occupies in health-care clinical practice, research, quality improvement efforts, and policies, there is no universal understanding of what the “patient experience” is, as evidenced by the lack of a standardized definition ( 4 ). Therefore, patients, clinicians, policy makers, managers, and researchers have different interprets of the concept ( 5 ). Although this has been called the “era of the patient” ( 6 ), experts have said, “it’s no wonder that hospitals are struggling with the best way to provide it.” After all, if you can’t define what it is, you can’t provide it—and you certainly can’t measure it” ( 5 ). Thus, a clearer understanding of the patient experience will assist clinicians in improving that experience at the point of care, guide further research into the topic, and provide clear directions for quality improvement efforts and health-care policies.

There are several reasons for the lack of a formal definition or clear understanding of the patient experience. The patient experience is a multidimensional, multifaceted, and intimately connected concept with several subsections. Furthermore, framing definitions, even when concepts are well understood, is not a simple task. The Beryl Institute made a significant stride forward by providing a definition that highlights the integrated and multidimensional nature of the patient experience and the complexity of the framing task ( 4 , 7 ). They defined the patient experience as “the sum of all interactions, shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions, across the continuum of care” ( 7 ). This definition identifies 4 critical themes for understanding the patient experience: personal interactions, organization’s culture, patient and family perceptions, and continuum of care.

By itself, a definition is a statement that seeks to convey the understanding of a concept. The greater our understanding of the patient experience, the easier it is to frame a definition. As we continue to create a standardized definition, it is important to step back from its multidimensional nature and review its most basic concepts. One fundamental source for this concept comes from an article in the 2001 Institute of Medicine, which states, “health care is not just another service industry. Its fundamental nature is characterized by people taking care of other people in times of need and stress” ( 8 ). A central role in health care is, therefore, the humanity of both the patient and care provider throughout the process of providing health care. Both the physician and patient are people ( 9 ).

This article seeks to provide a general overview of the patient experience from the platform of who we are as human beings, whether we are patients or providers. It provides a conceptual framework that traces the patient’s virtual journey from health, to the onset of disease, and through multiple encounters with health-care services. To fully appreciate the value of this conceptual framework, awareness of 2 important elements is required. First, although the patient experience concept is multidimensional and multifaceted, the health-care experience for the individual patient is unified; it is informed by a complex combination of the patient’s personal life, as well as their own and their family’s experiences within the health-care system at all levels of care.

Second, the word “patient” is used in this article with a specific meaning. There is intense debate about replacing the word patient with consumer, users, or clients; the argument for the change is that the word “patient” conveys the idea of passivity and does not correctly describe all patient populations, especially the “well patient” seeking preventive services ( 10 , 11 ).

In this article, we use the dictionary definition of patient: “a person receiving or registered to receive medical treatment” ( 12 ). However, the additional element of “suffering,” which captures a critical element of the human experience of disease, is also incorporated. Thus, patient refers to a person suffering from a disease before and after they begin receiving or are registered to receive medical treatment.

The Experience Journey of the Patient

A recurrent and prominent theme in discussions of the patient experience is centering the patient’s perception or perspective on the health care they receive ( 7 , 13 ). Health-care providers who seek to understand the patient’s perspective of their experience will obtain a greater understanding of the patient experience. Furthermore, it is important to note that the patient’s overall health and disease experience begins before they enter the health-care system. This holistic experience from the patient’s perspective is critical for a complete understanding of their experience within the health-care organization.

Phases and landmarks of the patient experience

When a patient contacts a health-care organization, assuming they are in a basic state of health, they begin a journey that consists of 3 phases or spheres of experiences with 2 critical landmarks. These phases and landmarks of the patient experience are illustrated in Figure 1 .

A conceptual framework for understanding the patient experience. The arrows indicate the direction patients take in their journey through health-care encounters, which is hypothetically to the right of the diagram. The person moves across the continuum, indicating that the patient or user of health-care services is the same unique human being they have always been. The arrow labeled “Patient” begins in the middle, indicating the person is not always a patient and becomes one with the onset of disease. The “User” arrow indicates that the person who has a disease only becomes a user of health-care services with their first interaction with the health-care system.

• The patient, just as the provider, is a unique individual. A baseline state of health is used for the purpose of simplicity, as illustrated in the right column in Figure 1 .
• The first landmark for the individual is the beginning of a process that moves them from the first column, person, to the middle column, patient. A patient, as we have stated, is a person who is suffering from a disease, but they are still the same unique person they have been.
• The second landmark occurs when this person suffering from a disease makes their first contact with medical care services regarding this disease. They become users or consumers of these services. While they interact with health-care organizations, they continue to be the same person they were before disease onset.

Importantly, the state of disease or the role of a person as a user of health-care services is dynamic. If the disease is cured, the individual who was a patient before is restored to the experience of health and is no longer a patient.

A Continuum and Unity

As Figure 1 demonstrates, the patient remains the same person they were before the disease onset, even after they contract a disease or begin utilizing medical services. The person’s interactions with health-care providers—and not their disease or their role as consumers—are the key to understanding the fundamental nature of the patient experience.

The patient experience does not rely solely on the events that occur between themselves and health-care providers; their complex human experiences also influence their perception of the situation. For instance, while the patient seeks to understand the plan of care as the provider explains it (experience with medical services), they might also experience discomfort from their symptoms (experiences of the disease) and anxiety over making sure their kids are picked up from daycare (experiences in general life).

A journey through this continuum leads to a solid understanding of what health care currently refers to as the patient experience. As shown in Figure 1 , this experience is also a human experience of a distinct occurrence or series of events called health-care service.

The Person: The Human Experience

The first column in Figure 1 lays the foundation for understanding the person who seeks medical care from health-care providers. Understanding the humanity of patients is the critical foundation upon which any successful patient-centered experience efforts should be built. The prominent role of our humanity distinguishes health care from other service industries ( 8 ). In “Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine,” Jameson et al stated, “Tact, sympathy, and understanding are expected of the physician, for the patient is no mere collection of symptoms, signs disordered functions, damaged organs, and disturbed emotions. [The patient] is human, fearful and hopeful, seeking relief, help and reassurance” ( 14 ).

The patient is a human, and humanity harbors the secret to the elements of care that creates a superior patient experience. In a speech to Harvard Medical Students in 1926, Francis Peabody stated, “one of the essential qualities of the clinician is interest in humanity, for the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient” ( 9 , 15 ). This statement is as valid today as it was when it was first spoken. Our interest in the humanity of our patients naturally leads us to care for the person who is suffering from an illness and seeking help from the health-care system, rather than merely managing a case or disease. The human experience is, therefore, central to the overall conceptual understanding of the patient experience.

The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” ( 16 ). This definition indicates that the human experience in health and disease is multidimensional and includes physical, mental, and social dimensions. Puchalski identified a fourth, spiritual dimension; she calls compassionate care “serving the whole person—the physical, emotional, social, and spiritual” ( 17 ); research has shown this to be important to many patients ( 18 ). The social dimension emphasizes the importance of engaging not only the patient but also their families and communities ( 19 - 21 ). Needham recognizes the multinational nature of the patient experience in stating that both emotional and physical experiences must be managed, highlighting 2 out of the 4 dimensions noted above ( 22 ).

The Patient: The Experience of Illness

As noted above, this article uses the word patient to refer to a person suffering from a disease before and after they begin receiving or are registered to receive medical treatment. It has a central role in the conceptual framework of Figure 1 , as it preserves what is “distinctive about medical practice” ( 10 ) and what separates health care from many other service industries: a human being suffering from a disease seeks care from another human being who not only provides a service but also is moved with compassion and empathy for the one seeking help ( 8 ). Despite its limitations within the evolving landscape of health care, Dr. Raymond Tallis’ comment regarding replacing the word patient, to “leave it well alone” ( 10 ), seems to be echoed by most patients and providers ( 23 ).

The onset of a disease marks the critical landmark of the transition from a person who is healthy to a person suffering from a disease before or after they are registered or begin receiving medical treatment. The individual, who we assume was previously healthy, begins to experience a disease in the psychological, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions. For example, a patient with a broken bone may experience not only physical pain and sight of a possible deformity but also the fear and anxiety of lifelong loss of movement or being admitted to a hospital for the first time.

Shale describes 3 aspects of the patient experience, including physiologic experiences of illness, customer service, and lived experiences of the illness ( 24 ). The patient’s experience of an illness is a distinct aspect of their overall experience. The ultimate hope of medical care is to eliminate, reduce the impact of, or manage the varied psychological, physical, social, and spiritual experiences of illness, for both the patient and their families and communities. These distinct spheres of experiences, which simultaneously occur during every interaction between the health-care organization and the person, form the continuum of the patient’s holistic experience of care.

The Experience of Health-Care Services

Health care is, “after all, a service” ( 2 ). Patients become users or consumers of health-care services when they begin using those services, starting with their first interaction across the continuum of care. Health-care service, as a continuum of all interactions with the patient, is experienced in the same 4-dimensional sphere of human experience, that is, physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually. The patient experience, in essence, is the human experience of health-care services. The central reason for the existence of the health-care industry is to care for the patient: to manage their physical, psychological (emotional/mental), social, and spiritual health needs as presented.

The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is a standardized, well-established, and extensively-validated instrument that measures the degree to which health-care services have managed to meet the aforementioned complex needs ( 13 ). The HCAHPS addresses specific aspects of interactions between the patient and the health-care organization, such as communication with doctors and nurses. The patient’s experience begins with the onset of disease, which, however, the HCAHPS cannot capture. This is because the health-care system is not responsible for the prior, varied experiences that individual patients may have experienced in their illness before seeking care for this disease state. However, when these patients are under the care of a health-care organization, the degree to which the care services meet their needs, in the context of the family and community, is the health-care service provider’s direct responsibility. The HCAHPS scores give health-care service providers a quantitative measure to assess how well they are meeting the needs of their patients, families, and communities. They can then determine areas of strengths and weaknesses and clearly plan quality improvement changes across the continuum of care so that “patients would experience care” that is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and more equitable” ( 8 ).

A proper, clear, and precise understanding of the patient experience will benefit the health-care industry and society in multiple aspects, including but not limited to establishing a tailored and personalized clinical bedside care, providing clear guidance for further research, stimulating consistent and sustainable improvements in medical care quality, and guiding health-care policy. The conceptual framework presented in this article, which seeks to clarify the centrality of the patient’s human experience across the continuum of care, is only the beginning point for a better overall understanding of this multidimensional, multifaceted concept. The health-care industry has not received the full benefit of the data provided by patient experience measurement tools. Given the potential impact on quality, safety, and cost of health care in general, research efforts should be made to not only create a standardized definition of the patient experience but also clarify its various components. The current methods of measurement and reporting should be improved in order to establish the best ways to incorporate the patient experience data into general health-care improvement efforts.

Author Biography

Patrick Oben is a hospitalist at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center. He serves as the Physician Lead of the MercyOne Patient Experience unit.

Authors’ Note: No research was performed on human or animal subjects and as such approval by an Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board was not required. Similarly, no informed patient consents were obtained as these were not required.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Visitor Experience 101 for Hospitals

There is a common misconception that hospitals and retail businesses are different.

But let’s look at the facts. Both provide services to consumers through multiple channels, including mobile, web and physical outlets. Both depend on high footfalls and recurring visitors.

Is there something retail businesses can teach you about patient experience?

Let’s find out the most important lessons.

A Focus on Visitor Experience

The holy grail of success in the retail business is customer experience. This is explained by one simple fact — it is up to 10 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one.

Any experienced retailer will tell you that getting a customer into your store is just half the battle.

What if they encounter apathetic staff, long wait times , and disorganized queues inside the store? They won’t think twice about switching to your competitors who offer better service.

There are two ways poor customer experience can damage your business.

Firstly, by reducing the average lifetime value of a customer . A visitor who comes across poor service will likely head to the exit faster than you can make amends with them.

Secondly, through people sharing their negative experiences with friends and family . In fact, people are twice more likely to share their bad service experience than their positive experience . This leads to a reverse word-of-mouth marketing situation, where potential future customers are warned against going to your store.

The only cure for poor customer experience is good customer experience. There are a few steps to this journey, though.

Differentiation Is Key

In economic jargon, similar goods and services are known as substitutes . Coke and Pepsi are virtually identical products, yet people are usually loyal to only one of them.

Which means that Coke and Pepsi are not perfect substitutes.

Why would people care about one product over another if they’re the same thing? The answer is brand loyalty .

The key factor in developing brand loyalty is differentiation . Something about the experience that you provide has to be completely unique. For example, some people associate childhood memories with a brand’s advertising.

What does any of this have to do with implementing a queuing solution at hospitals ?

In retail, the key to differentiation, and thus the key to brand loyalty, is customer experience. The way you approach hospital queue management can determine the quality of patient experience .

Your hospital is not different from a hundred other hospitals in your city. But by treating your customer’s time with the respect it deserves, you put yourself ahead of the competition .

Nailing your patient experience helps you differentiate your hospital from others.

Strategies like discounts and special offers are effective, but they can also backfire. Your competitors can offer them as well, driving everyone’s profits down in the long run.

What do retail businesses focus on when trying to improve customer experience? And how can you implement the same strategies in your hospital?

It’s time to talk about employee satisfaction.

Employee Satisfaction Is Customer Satisfaction

When we talk about making hospitals a better environment, you shouldn’t forget about the people who would benefit from it the most — your employees .

Lack of proper training, long hours, poor compensation — there are many different factors that can lead to employees becoming frustrated with their job. And nothing kills businesses faster than unengaged, disinterested employees.

Think about it. If your employees dread to use a new piece of software or worry about their mortgage payments, they won’t be in a mood to help customers.

Dan Pink, in his viral TED talk on the puzzle of motivation , reveals a surprising truth about what leads us forwards. The traditional carrots-and-sticks technique — rewards and punishments based on performance — is a thing of the past.

More than financial rewards, employees seek autonomy and mastery in their jobs.

By letting your employees take charge of their jobs and delegating tasks so that they know what they’re doing, you can make your hospital a good place to be in for everyone.

Engagement Leads to Better Experience

Let’s look at the previous point again, this time from the customer’s perspective.

Your patient wants to walk in and be surrounded by friendly, helpful faces. Greeting them with an open smile and a warm welcome is a crucial first step.

Nobody wants to interact with bored-looking employees who keep interrupting your questions to answer phone calls.

That being said, engagement isn’t limited to “service with a smile”. There are a couple of additional ways to bring engagement to the next level.

Saying “No” to Numbered Tokens

There’s nothing more alienating than being referred to as a number. Not only are patients waiting in a queue (which is never fun), they’re not even referred to as individuals .

Without proper hospital queue management, the numbers fail to be of any meaning. Being the tenth in a queue that takes 10 minutes to serve one patient is better than being the fifth in a queue that takes 25 minutes to move one up.

Sign-in Sheets Are Bad for Business

Numbered tokens and sign-in sheets are both examples of the same thing — obsolete technology. With easy and affordable access to mobile technology, there’s no excuse for not implementing superior systems .

There are a number of reasons why sign-in sheets are bad , including the need for human handling, privacy issues, and slow data processing. But perhaps the biggest reason to let sign-in sheets go is that the alternative is actually better.

Referring to Patients by First Name Is Essential

If numbered tokens are so bad, what’s the alternative?

A queuing solution at hospitals that makes it easy to refer to patients by their first names. This makes visits at your hospital more personal, helping you improve customer experience .

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Allowing your visitors to check in themselves improves the overall patient experience. As a result, your patients feel more engaged and self-reliant.

Meanwhile, you and your staff are free to concentrate on your work .

With a fully digital system like Qminder , internally labeling patients with tags takes only a few clicks. For example, if a patient is allergic to certain medicines, you can have that information right where you need it, without any additional paperwork.

Segmenting your patients using preferences and other details can make it much easier to know how much time they’ll need. This can drastically cut down wait time, and affect choices like who to attend to next.

Technology doesn’t only make your services better, it can also make them more personal.

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July 28, 2023

Patient Experience

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12 tips to improve patient experience you can use right now

Meaningful ways for your staff to improve patient experience, satisfaction, and patient retention at your independent practice.

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The healthcare journey from potential patient to recurring visitor is long. It begins, in many cases, with a prospective patient’s online search for expert medical treatment , and it continues long after the patient leaves that first appointment. But it’s worth your while to make sure that each step is designed for patient safety, ease and convenience. Prioritizing an exceptional patient care experience can lead to greater patient satisfaction and, ultimately, to higher patient retention. 

There are many specific steps that doctors and their staff can take to improve patient experience at their practices. 

12 ways to improve patient experience 

At one time, providing excellent, professional-level care was enough to build a successful healthcare practice. Today, however, medical facilities must also provide related services to attract new patients and achieve high patient retention. When medical practices focus on patient-centered care , studies show there is higher patient satisfaction, higher physician satisfaction and fewer malpractice complaints.

Here are 12 ways to improve healthcare delivery and patient interactions.

1. Create a helpful online presence 

Your medical practice’s online presence — including your healthcare website and your local directory profiles — is your prospective patients’ first impression of your practice. 

Your medical practice website is your online home base. It serves as the banner for your practice’s overall brand. To help patients understand what to expect from your practice, make sure you’re offering clear, consistent information on website pages. Be sure to include About Us, Services Offered, and Contact pages. Showcase high-quality photos of your practice (both interior and exterior), so that potential patients can get a sense of your brand before they visit. It’s also a great idea to include testimonials from current patients; this helps to generate trust. 

Learn more: Lead patients to your Independent practice with medical SEO

You’ll also want your practice to be accurately represented wherever else you appear online. Claim and update your profiles on important online business and healthcare directories . And be sure to include photos, location information, and hours. Make sure that those profiles link to your practice’s website. 

2. Offer online scheduling for patient visits

Give patients the freedom and convenience to book appointments online. According to Kyruus , 43% of patients prefer to book their medical appointments online. In a recent survey, more than 60% of patients told us they preferred digital options for booking appointments, whether via browser, email, or text. Plus, 30% of patients said that the option to book an appointment online is what they wanted most from their healthcare provider, following quality care. 

Patients will appreciate not having to provide the same information again and again as they arrive at appointments. If patient records and necessary documents are already in the system, they can confirm them digitally at home and save time in the waiting room . 

Bottom line: Investing in online scheduling for your practice will better satisfy both new and returning patients. 

3. Send appointment confirmations and reminders 

Patients are busy. Help them stay in communication with your practice with appointment confirmations and reminders . These reminders let your patients know that you value their time, and they help you reduce costly no-shows . 

The large majority of patients report that they prefer to receive these notifications, especially appointment-related reminders, by text messages rather than other patient communication methods. In fact, 66% of patients would choose to receive a reminder for an upcoming appointment via text message. In addition, 59% of patients would like a text message reminder to book an upcoming appointment. 

Send appointment confirmations via email or SMS/text after patients have booked. Then send a reminder three days before a scheduled appointment, asking them to confirm. If a patient doesn’t confirm, send another reminder the day before, and another one an hour before the appointment. 

4. Make paperwork available on your website 

Cut down on the tedious tasks for patients when they arrive in your waiting room by giving them the option to view and fill out patient intake forms before their visit . More than 60% of patients report that they prefer a digital method for filling out registration and other forms. This way, patients can fill out the necessary paperwork when it’s convenient for them and avoid completing it in a rush before an appointment. 

5. Instruct front office staff to be friendly and helpful 

Patient engagement begins long before they see the doctor. Your ability to provide a great experience during a patient’s visit is essential to keep those patients coming back. A warm, welcoming attitude from the front office staff helps set the tone from the moment your patients walk in the door. About 50% of patients say that a welcoming staff is what they want most from their healthcare provider, besides quality care.  Simple gestures from the front-office staff like saying hello, smiling, and being friendly during the check-in process can help create a positive patient relationship.

One way to achieve this is to be sure that all of your office employees, particularly your trained medical personnel, act according to your practice’s ethos. Be sure that they have what they need to do their job seamlessly. Train new hires thoroughly and offer training for everyone on any new equipment. When your staff is comfortable, they’ll make your patients comfortable. 

6. Provide a clean, comfortable waiting room

Doctors’ offices are no place for hard furniture and harsh lighting. Instead, fill your waiting room with comfortable seating, use warm lighting to create a more welcoming environment, and stream spa-like music to relax your patients. A soothing environment can make patient visits feel more like they are getting a break from a hectic day and less like an inconvenience. 

7. Keep wait times to a minimum 

A bit of a wait is understandable, but patients become frustrated when they feel that you’re not respecting their schedule. In a list of what patients want most from their healthcare providers , patients prioritized a short wait time (52%) as second only to their doctor’s being a good listener (67%). Remember that communication is key. If you know that you’re running a bit behind, make sure that your staff tells patients how long they can expect to wait. They will appreciate your transparency. 

8. Offer personalized care 

Ultimately, patients come for your trusted medical opinion. But patients also want to see someone they feel comfortable with, a doctor who will listen and who will be invested in their well-being. 

In Tebra's patient perspectives survey , patients revealed that their doctor’s being a good listener was the very most important part of their patient experience. In fact, 67% of patients said it was what they wanted most from their healthcare providers, in addition to quality care. You will want to address this aspect of your patient needs. 

Be mindful not only to provide a thorough examination, but also to display a warm, caring, and friendly presence. Make sure that your patients sense your compassion and empathy , and that they leave with a full understanding of their treatment plan. Patient understanding leads to better patient outcomes. 

9. Post-visit follow-ups 

After their visit, use thoughtful touch points to interact with your patients to show them that you value their feedback. You can send an automated patient satisfaction survey by text or email. That will yield higher engagement, since patients aren’t as likely to submit a survey on their own. 

Sending a survey shortly after their visit is the best time to get feedback , since their experience is still top of mind. Survey results can help improve the quality of your services; this will lead to happier patients (and better reviews) over time. 

10. Promptly respond to online feedback 

Your response to feedback, whether good or bad, is just as important as collecting that feedback from patients. Your thoughtful responses foster trust with patients and show that you care about their experiences with your healthcare practice. 

Don’t ignore critical feedback , and patient concerns, either. Research shows that reviewers contacted by a practice after a visit are satisfied about 81% of the time. If you receive negative feedback, politely acknowledge the author and encourage them to contact you directly to address their experience. 

Reminder: Be sure to comply with the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) when you respond to reviews or comments online. Never confirm that a reviewer is a patient or mention any Protected Health Information (PHI) such as their name, location, or and social media handle. 

11. Share helpful content on social media or on a blog 

Create and share content on your social media profiles. It’s a great way to provide valuable healthcare information and to increase patient satisfaction . Consider what patients want to know about the treatments and the services you offer. What are their most commonly asked questions? Use them to develop timely, educational content that addresses these questions. 

To demonstrate your authority in your specialty, share a mix of your own original content and other medical blogs or news articles. Sharing your original blog posts on social media is a great way to drive patients to your practice website so they can learn more about your services. 

12. Use email for patient communication 

Email is a great way to communicate and engage in patient education. According to omnimarketer , 58% of consumers check their email in the morning before they do anything else online. 

Use emails to send:

• Regular newsletters
• Promotional offers
• Appointment reminders
• Alerts about clinical services and any new services you offer
• Tips on healthcare 

Many factors go into creating a positive experience. Taking steps to improve patient experience will help increase their satisfaction, which, in turn, will lead to higher patient retention and a greater number of glowing online reviews.

Subscribe to The Intake: A weekly check-up for your independent practice

Bianca Wollman, medical marketing consultant

Bianca Wollman is the senior manager of customer marketing at Tebra and resides in Marina Del Rey. She has extensive experience consulting private medical practices on SEO and marketing strategies and has led healthcare customer marketing efforts for the last 3 years. Bianca previously worked in the tourism marketing industry in Washington, DC.

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Intelligent Patient Visitor Management For Hospitals: A Comprehensive Guide

Our guide to how visitor management solutions allow hospitals to operate more efficiently, secure their valuable assets, and better protect patients, staff and visitors..

A hospital is somewhere people go in their most vulnerable moments, whether they be ill, injured, or facing the illness or injury of a loved one. To ensure patients and other visitors have a positive experience, hospitals should be secure, well-organized, and comfortable places—for both staff and patients.

The most important way that hospitals can address their security, safety, and organizational needs is by regulating the flow and access of patients, visitors, contractors, and vendors, using a robust visitor management solution.

Unfortunately, most systems currently on the market are not built with the needs of hospitals in mind. Hospitals face the unique challenges of managing access requirements for a wide range of identities whose needs may change rapidly, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, and ensuring a smooth and fast check-in process for visitors.

In this article, we will outline and explore the key challenges faced by hospitals today and provide recommendations for how to overcome these challenges to ensure visitor, worker, and patient safety.

Security Challenges In The Healthcare Industry

Hospitals face a number of potential threats to people and property, including physical assaults on staff, theft of medical supplies and drugs, and access to vulnerable patients and sensitive areas. These threats place strain on hospital security and administrators, who must find a balance between blocking potential dangers and not disrupting the day-to-day flow of people in and out, or diminishing the open and inviting environments hospitals like to foster to facilitate a comfortable healing environment.

Broadly speaking, there are four key challenges hospitals are facing today. These include ensuring staff and visitor safety, preventing the spread of infectious diseases, improving efficiency and scalability, and adhering to compliance regulations.

Patient, Staff, And Visitor Safety

Hospitals are busy bustling places, with many people—clinical, administrative, and operational staff, as well as patients, visitors, contractors, etc.—traversing the halls daily. The prioritization of patient safety and security is critical in such a busy environment, where it can be difficult to keep track of who is coming and going. In fact, a survey from Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) showed that 63% of Americans are concerned about unauthorized individuals walking the halls of hospitals. If a patient’s security were to be breached by an unauthorized intruder, they may feel unsafe or suffer physical harm and the hospital’s reputation could be seriously damaged, if not subject to legal action.

The safety of staff is another big concern—one that has grown over the last few years. Data from the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety indicates a rise in the assault rate in US hospitals from 2019 to 2020, with an increase of over 23% . The number of assaults reported has continued to rise since then, which led to the American Hospital Association submitting a request in March 2022 to the Department of Justice for legislation to be drafted providing healthcare workers with better protection from assault and intimidation.

There are also specific safeguarding issues hospitals must consider beyond simply protecting staff and patients. For example, highly vulnerable patients must be protected from unauthorized visitors who should not have access to them, even if they are related. At the same time, hospitals must ensure that the right people are able to reach and offer comfort to patients who are waiting for them; for instance, a sick child losing visiting time with their family due to delays at the front desk.

Preventing The Spread Of Infectious Diseases

A shift towards tighter access control for the sake of protecting hospital staff has been happening for a while, but the COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a more sudden and drastic shift: the need for comprehensive disease control.

Limiting the spread of infections in hospitals has always been a concern, but never to the degree it reached during the pandemic when hospital workers and patients found themselves in an especially vulnerable position.

Efficiency And Scalability

Efficiency at a hospital is critical, especially when it comes to admitting patients and visitors. Poor policies and inefficient procedures that complicate how visitors enter and move around the facility can lead to added stress for patients and slowdowns in treatment.

 A streamlined check-in and authorization process experience for visitors and patients, enabled by technologies that also make them feel safer, can help foster an environment of trust that benefits everyone.

Hospitals are often comprised of multiple campuses and may include emergency departments, laboratories, and restricted areas that require stricter access limitations. Most visitor management systems are not equipped to manage these complex environments and lack the scalability needed to serve hundreds of lobbies either within the same complex or spread out over multiple sites.

Unless hospitals can efficiently manage the entire physical lifecycle of a growing number of visitors without wait times increasing and security suffering, they may struggle to reach their potential for growth.

The final challenge faced by hospitals is regulatory compliance. The US healthcare industry is monitored rigorously against stringent regulatory requirements. Organizations in this industry must comply with a variety of standards, including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) regulations, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS).

Healthcare organizations are also required to comply with Health Level Seven (HL7), which is a set of international standards for the transfer of clinical administrative data between software applications used by a variety of healthcare providers.

Keeping up with these rigid standards places a considerable administrative and audit burden on hospitals, especially as these regulations often undergo routine changes that the healthcare industry must meet. In addition to this, they may be subject to non-routine changes, such as those put in place throughout the COVID-19 pandemic designed to limit the spread of the virus, which hospitals were required to comply with.

What Is Visitor Management?

Visitor management refers to the processes and tools used to administer and track physical access to buildings or facilities by individuals who are not employed by the organization. For hospitals, it specifically refers to the flow and access of patient, visitor, contractor, and vendor populations that need to be managed and monitored.

Having a dependable visitor management system in place that can effectively manage and track hospital visitors provides many benefits that go a long way in alleviating the risks associated with these challenges.

Benefits Of Patient Visitor Management For Hospitals

Improved security processes.

Automating the manual processes associated with managing visitors—such as verifying, screening, and providing badges to users, and standardizing your security policies across all healthcare facilities—allows you to more effectively uphold security standards, even if there is a policy change or if a new lobby or new location is added.

Automatically provisioning access to hospital visitors based on their business at the hospital or their relationship with a specific patient both improves front desk efficiency by streamlining the visitor pre-registration process and enhances overall security by automating the process of verifying, screening, and badging visitors.

Strong security and a user-friendly experience are very valuable, and hospitals should prioritize these when it comes to implementing a visitor management solution.

Compliance With Local Or National Mandates

Complying with local or national mandates—whether they relate to strict data privacy and protection requirements or patient, visitor, and staff health and safety—requires solutions with configurable policies and workflows that enable consistent policy enforcement.

By capturing and surfacing key information via standard or ad hoc reports, healthcare organizations can provide auditors and authorities with required documentation quickly and efficiently.

Patient Visitor Ease Of Use

Today’s consumers have high technology expectations. Online booking and self-checkouts work to reduce friction when taking out cash at the ATM and booking a stay somewhere—the same convenience is expected in hospitals.

An effortless check-in experience for your patients, visitors, and contractors should be high on the list of priorities when searching for a visitor management solution as it saves time and money, improves user experience, and frees up front desk staff to rededicate their time to more critical tasks.

Self-service kiosks make the experience for visitors significantly smoother, which enhances customer satisfaction and overall reduces healthcare delivery costs for the hospital.

Improved Scalability

A solution that provides sufficient room for growth and is adaptable to change is absolutely essential for any hospital, as many hospitals require any solution they use to stretch across several different sites and to serve hundreds of lobbies within one complex.

Visitor management systems within this kind of fast-paced, changeable environment need to have a minimum learning curve as hospitals often have high turnover rates (which only increased over the course of the pandemic with the average staff turnover rate in the US in 2020 standing at 19.5% ). They should be straightforward and easy for security teams and admins to manage and should be quick and responsive to ensure that errors—when they occur—are caught quickly and remedied.

How To Choose A Patient Visitor Management Tool

There are a few key features that you should look out for when choosing a patient visitor management tool to implement at your hospital. These include visitor self-service, integrations, scalability, customizable security policies, and compliance support. Let’s take a look at each of them in a little more detail.

Visitor Self-Service

A patient visitor management tool can help increase front desk efficiency and visitor experience by offering self-service tools, including check-in/check-out kiosks and web portals for inpatients, outpatients, and immediate relatives. These make it quick and easy for visitors to register themselves when they arrive at the hospital, and make it easy for them to review, acknowledge, and agree to terms set out by the hospital.

You should look for a self-service feature that enables you to present screening questions to visitors and upon check-in and compare visitor details against watch lists. This will allow patients greater control over who can visit them and help you to prevent unauthorized and unwanted people from entering the facility and creating safety concerns.

Visitors should also be able to print visitors’ badges upon check-in at the kiosk station, with self-registration via an ID scanner and web camera removing the security risk associated with sign-in booklets, as well as freeing up administrative employees’ resources by removing the tedious and time-consuming task of visitor check-ins from their plates.

Security Policies

Your chosen patient visitor management solution should enable you to automate policies related to access entitlement and badging. By taking an automated approach to permitting regular visits from those closest to the patients, you can minimize friction and, more importantly, prevent the wrong visitors from entering the facility and gaining proximity to patients who may be in a particularly vulnerable state.

These policies can help regulate the flow of visitors throughout the hospital and screen for potential illnesses. The risk of illness fluctuates year-round, can differ depending on location, and can be subject to unexpected serious outbreaks (of COVID-19, for example), so policies should be able to adapt to that variance.

Integrations And Scalability

Any strong patient visitor management system should integrate seamlessly with other security, identity, and healthcare systems, including:

• HL7 compliant interfaces
• Electronic health or medical record (EHR or EMR) systems
• Information technology (IT) systems (i.e., Microsoft Active Directory and single sign-on (SSO))

By offering out-of-the box integrations, the visitor management tool will enable you to use your existing tools rather than having to migrate to new ones. This can improve the effectiveness of your existing tools and make the solution much easier to deploy, integrate, and manage long-term.

To help you manage liability and ensure compliance with any data protection standards relevant to your organization, such as HIPAA, your visitor management solution should create an auditable log of all actions and data within the system. It should communicate with other systems you’re using—including PACS and EHR/EMR—to generate a record of entries, exits, and other transactions quickly and easily that can be examined if needed, thereby strengthening safety standards and boosting accountability.

As well as helping you achieve compliance, these logs can be used to improve security: data collected by the visitor management system like names, dates, times, etc. may reveal patterns which, once identified, can be used to better refine policies, and implement preventative—not reactive—security. In other words, these insights can help you to address threats before they emerge.

Finding the right visitor management system is important for hospitals due to the serious risks associated with their unique environments, which include threats to people and property, assaults, theft of medical supplies, drugs, or patients’ data, and the spreading of infectious diseases. These challenges place considerable strain on hospitals’ security professionals and admins.

To alleviate this strain, we recommend that hospitals implement a sophisticated solution specifically designed to tackle their unique challenges and to improve both efficiency and the overall experience. Patient visitor management solutions offer users useful capabilities that are designed to satisfy the needs of hospitals by supporting patient well-being and providing a safe, compliant, and efficient environment for patients, workers, and visitors.

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Writing a Report – Visit to the Hospital

Mar 15, 2020 | Report Writing | 15 |

Write a report Extended students 150-200 words – 8 Marks for Content and 8 Marks for Language Core Students 100-150 words – 6 Marks for Content and 6 Marks for Language

Model Answer Past paper question

The trip to the big hospital in our city was a truly enlightening and educational experience. The highlight of the visit was the tour of the various departments, where we got to see how a hospital operates and the different specialties that work together to provide patient care.

We had the opportunity to visit the emergency room, where we saw how the staff worked efficiently and calmly under pressure to attend to patients with various medical emergencies. We also had the chance to see the operating rooms, where we witnessed the latest surgical technologies in action and learned about the important role that sterilization plays in preventing infections.

In addition, we learned about the different types of imaging tests, such as X-rays and MRIs, that are used to diagnose medical conditions. We also had the opportunity to interact with some of the medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, who answered our questions and provided us with valuable insights into their careers.

Overall, the trip to the big hospital was an eye-opening experience that gave us a deeper understanding of how a hospital function and the important role that each department plays in delivering quality healthcare. I would highly recommend this trip to other classes as it provides a great opportunity to learn about the healthcare system and the different careers in the field.

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A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL – REPORT

15 comments.

TRIP TO HOSPITAL

INTRODUCTION This report is based on a trip to a big hospital in our city called “IGMH” last week. This report will highlight mostly on the events that occured during the event and the reccomendations to improve the next trip. This report is submitted to the class teacher.

THE TRIP The whole trip was mostly based on seeing the doctors in action and the doctors giving us talks about their career. They even showed how to talk to patients and how to conduct some tests.

The trip was over all exciting. But the most exciting and the highlight of the trip was getting to watch a doctor in action. The doctor was doing a surgery of a heart and for biology students it benefits a lot.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS

Even though the whole trip helped the students, the time give for the trip is too limited and short. Some of the students were unable to take notes and understand also.

So all of the students reccomend to exceed the time limit given for the student for the next year.

In conclusion, the overall trip was help ful. A student says “I get scared whenever i am in a hospital, but tgis trip helped me to over come it”. The whole trip benefited us even thought the trip was short.

THE HOSPITAL TRIP REPORT BY Zayin INTRODUCTION Recently, our class went a trip to a big hospital in our city. This trip was conducted by our school management for the students who are studying in grade 10, to make them aware about how the equipment of the hospital works and why those equipment are important. The principle purpose of this to highlight the events of our class visit to the hospital and explain why it is other classes. THE VISIT We went to the hospital as part of our lesson on last weekend. As we entered into the hospital, innumerable number of people were involving in varied activities. There was a person chosen from the management of the hospital to give information to us about the treatment they give in the hospital. Then he took us to the laboratory of the hospital and showed us some laboratory equipment that they use to do various experiments. After that he took us to the dialysis room where dialysis patients get their treatment. When we saw them we were very emotional because of the hard time they going through. Then we all went to the national cardio center where they treat people with heart related problems. We were mesmerized after seeing the huge machines they use in there. Finally, we went to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where they treat people in critical condition but we were not allowed to go inside that place. RECOMMENDATION Overall everyone who participated in this was elated after the trip as they got to see various equipment they use in the hospital and we learned so much about it, so I recommend it to other classes as it is worth going to a hospital for a class trip.

Trip to IGMH INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to highlight the events occured during the trip to IGMH, where our class had to gather information for a lesson. In this report, it also gives reason why it is recommended for other classes to go to this hospital.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE VISIT During our visit, we saw many doctors and nurses rushing through the lobby to get to patients rooms and to do their other duties. We waited in the lobby where we met an expert doctor who was our guide. He was friendly and had rich knowledge about many areas in the medical field. We were able to see doctors and nurses working together and using high-tech medical equipment to treat patients as well as experience how they use said machines. We were also given information and advice on how to deal with patients with different backgrounds, illnesses etc.

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION Overall, the trip was exciting and informative as we got to learn a lot about the world of medicine and see doctors in different fields in action. I recommend other classes to visit IGMH if they wish to get a first person experience of what and how it is like to work in the medical field.

– 199 words –

Report: A trip to the hospital Introduction Recently my class has gone on a field trip to one of the most successful hospital in our country which is known as Tree Top hospital. The purpose of writing this report is to highlight the events which had occurred during the trip, also to give some recommendation on how to improve this trip next time. Events of the trip As soon as we arrived at the hospital two staff who work at the hospital greeted us with a polite smile and directed us towards a room and distributed the students into groups. After that students were taken separately for a small tour of the hospital with at least 2 teachers with a group along with a hospital staff who, gave students information about the hospital during the tour. After finishing the small tour of the hospital the group of students were separately taken to the general ward of the hospital to visit some of the patients without disturbing them too much. Furthermore after that students were visited by senior cardiologist working in the hospital who gave students some information on how the human heart works and showed the students a video of a heart transplant surgery which happened at the hospital. Conclusion The trip provided students a variety of information however, the field trip was quite short so students were not able to clear some doubts. I recommend the school to arrange the field trip for a longer period of time next year.

This report is based on a trip grade 10 students visit to our city hospital Muli regional hospital (MRH) last Sunday. Although, we mostly saw the doctors and nurses working together,they also give us information about there career. Also the doctors shows us how they get ready for any surgeries. Another point, they told us how to talk to patients family if the surgery is a success or a loss. Furthermore, doctors also talk us how to react in emergency situation and complicated times. The most highlighting point is they show us a vedio of a surgery. However, the doctors talk very fast. Some students did not understand few things. Also the time was very short we did not saw every where. So many students recommend to take a nother trip and have enough time to understand and take notes. To conclude the trip was enjoyable. Some students ware scared to see the video of the surgery. The whole trip teaches us many thing even it was fast though.

A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL This report is about the trip we had to the big hospital in our city, written upon the request of our teacher.This includes highlights from the hospital and reasons for recommendation to other classes. INTRODUCTION The trip mostly revolved around the equipment used in hospitals and different methods of treating patients and after they gave us a few lectures on how the machines work we saw a few demonstrations like MRI(Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and a few other machines.

We also got to hear a doctor explain why he chose this career path how he got here and some difficulties he faced getting to where he is now.But Above all it is without a doubt that the main highlight of this trip would be that we got to see a live surgery.There was a man that had to get stitches on his arm as he had got into an accident.Although we had to stay behind a pane of glass there was no doubt that all of us were interested and enjoyed the trip altogether.

RECOMMENDATION The information we learned at the hospital can prove to be an asset and will definitely give a benefit no matter who learns it so the other classes should also get a chance to go on this fabulous trip. CONCLUSION The trip was very interesting and we learned a lot of information in the short time that was available to us and we definitely didn’t feel bored as time for lectures were not too long and demonstrations were not too short and every student that had attended had learned something new and they would surely come again if given the opportunity.

A trip to the hospital INTRODUCTION

The following report purports summarise our findings during our class visit to the big Tree top hospital in our local city the past week. This report will highlight the events that occurred during our visit and followed by recommendations for the next trip conducted by the school.

First and foremost we were given a tour of the large medical facility and a demonstration of the medical equipment. After which we were allowed to follow selected doctors of throughout their daily medical tasks such as surgeries and checkups. We are granted the opportunity to see these heroes in action as doctors and nurses worked together to offer help and relief to the patients.

Secondly we were given a briefing by a board of doctors for students interested in following career paths in the medical sector either as doctors and nurses. The doctors took great care in weighting the pros and cons of a life in this sector.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

In a nutshell this trip was helpful and fruitful. However the time given for us was limited therefore the trip was hasty. Therefore it is the suggestions of students to make this a full day trip rather than a half day trip.

Last week our class visited Newlife hospital. One of the biggest, most developed hospitals in our city. The purpose of this report is to highlight the main events that occurred during the visit. The visit was organized by the science department of our class as part of a project on medical equipment. We arrived at Newlife hospital around 10:30 in the morning and we’re met by the director of the hospital Mr. Ahmed Ali. At first, we were shown a small presentation about the hospital followed by the talk of the director. After that, we had a tour of the hospital under the supervision of hospital staffs The most exciting part of the visit was seeing a live surgery done by the doctors. We also managed to study fascinating facts about different types of machinery and equipment that are used in different laboratories In conclusion, students were amazed to learn new information on medical equipment. However, a large number of students felt that the visit was too short. I suggest that next year’s hospital visit should be well balanced

Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. Report by: Shaffa Introduction. On 13th March our class went on a trip to the “Chang Gung Memorial Hospital”. The purport of this report is to highlight the main aim of the visit and to suggest why it is recommended for other classes. The Trip The trip was mainly aimed for grade 10 science stream students, as this will help them when they choose their career after their exams. First of all, the CEO gave a brief introduction about the hospital and its history. Then, the doctors showed us how the machines are worked and how important their job actually is. They also gave a good impression on the students when they had friendly conversations with their patients. What most of the students found truly eye-catching was a doctor was giving surgery to a heart patient. Some of the students also got to assist them at their work. After the tour, we were given a small test the diagnose our what we have learnt. Conclusion All in all, the trip was very informative and enjoyable. I highly recommend this trip to other classes as this will be great when you take up your career. I personally believe that grade 8 classes should get these opportunities more as it will help them when they take up their streams.

Visit to the hospital Report by:Enaash

Introduction

This report purports to highlight the events occured and what we learned from the visit to “IGMH” which is a well-known hospital in our city and to suggest how the visit could be improved.

Our class which is of twenty students had a thirty minutes visit to “IGMH” last Thursday. This acclaimed hospital was colossal and we were thrilled by the means of improved services of the hospital as we reached our destination. We were enthusiastic to see how doctors and nurses were actively engaged in their works. Moreover, we got the opportunity to interview some of the doctors regarding their career.

The overall visit was considerable. However, the visit intervened our school session. Further more, the visit was too short as the duration was thirty minutes.

Recommendation

I am of the opinion that the duration of the visit should be extended to at least one hour. Also, it would be more effective to visit the hospital during weekends as it would not intervene our school session.

AMINATH MAISA REPORT: A TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL

Introduction: Recently all the students of grade 10 went on a school trip to ADK hospital. This report aims to highlight the details and present what we learned from the whole trip. About the trip: As we arrived in the hospital, we were asked to choose a medical section we would like to see. A vast majority of students went with the operating room while a significant number of students decided to see the laboratory. In the operating room the students were stunned as they witnessed doctors and nurses working together with all the high-tech medical equipments. A doctor explained clearly how each equipment was used. Moreover students that decided to go to the laboratory were even allowed to handle some equipments and test them. Suggestions: Eventhough we managed to study fascinating facts, many students felt that the overall time for the trip was too short. Perhaps we could consider asking for more time in the next trip. Furthermore a number of students found that the teachers could have organised the schedule in a better way. This way none of the students will get lost and have a better sense of where they should be at the right time. Conclusion: All things considered the trip was really useful. We all got insight into the important medical things. For the reasons I have mentioned I highly recommend other classes having this kind of trip to a big hospital.

A visit to the hospital Recently our IGCSE english class went to the city hospital to know how the hospitak is functioned Firstly we went to the reception and our english teacher sought the permission for the visit. Then we went to the labourtary. The labourtary technician showed us how the machineries works and the procedure of blood testing. Next we visited the x-ray room. After wards we were taken to the wards. And there were so many patients lying on the bed. Finally we visited to the emergency room. They all were fully hygined. Also the staffs were very friendly to each other. Furthermore, the staffs of the hospital were very patient to the patients. The hospital facilities and services is very good. It would have been better if we get more time to spend in the hospital and to ask question about the hospital

TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to highlight what we learned during the trip to ADK, where our class had to gather information for a lesson. The purpose of writing this report is to highlight the events which had occurred during the trip, also to give some recommendations on how to improve our next trip. Almost all the students went on this trip. THE TRIP The whole trip is mostly based on seeing doctors in action and the doctors giving out their information’s about their career. They also showed how to talk to a patient and how to conduct some tests. we went separately to different places of the hospital so our one of the classmate said that he saw doctors and nurses working together and using all that high-tech medical equipment to treatment. Even one our classmate had fear of visiting a doctor, but after this experience has changed him completely. SUGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS I suggest for next trip we all want to see all the places all together not in different groups so we can see all the things. As all of us was in different group they saw something else and we saw something else. And their recommendations was really good.

Last week our class visited TTS hospital. One of the biggest, most developed hospitals in our city. The purpose of this report is to highlight the main events that occurred during the visit. The visit was organized by the school for our class as part of a project on medical equipment. As we arrived in the hospital, we were asked to choose a medical section we would like to see. A vast majority of students went with the operating room while a significant number of students decided to see the laboratory. In the operating room the students were stunned as they witnessed doctors and nurses working together with all the high-tech medical equipments. A doctor explained clearly how each equipment was used. Moreover students that decided to go to the laboratory were even allowed to handle some equipments and test them.

Introduction; The main aim of this report is to higlight about our trip to ADK hospital as a part of our biology studies and also to present the importance of recommending ot to other classes. The Visit; First of all, we were really fascinated to see an extremely developed hospital and, a vast majority of students were stunned to see the arrangements of the hospital. Moreover, we met specialists in different medical fields and got to clear some of our doubts from the topics of biology related to medical science. Also, the manager gave a tour of the overall hospital so we got a clear view of how the hospital runs. Furthermore, we saw the various types of machines and got to know the uses and how it works. Many students got emotional by seeing the patients and made dua for their recovery. Moreover, we were excited to meet the staff and workers of the hospital and they were helpful and kind ,which made our trip much more comfortable. We found that the hospital was hygiene and the staff took good care of the patients. We also got to interview some of the patients according to the disease they are suffering from so that we can get to know the symptoms and the way they handle the disease more clearly. Conclusion; To sum up we can say this was really a useful visit for us as biology students. I strongly recommend this trip to other classes also if the students are interested in medical field ,because this could be a helpful guideline for the students interested in this field.

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• Published: 08 May 2023

How to adjust the expected waiting time to improve patient’s satisfaction?

• Hui Zhang 1   na1 ,
• Wei-Min Ma 1   na1 ,
• Jing-Jing Zhu 2 ,
• Li Wang 3 ,
• Zhen-Jie Guo 3 &
• Xiang-Tang Chen 4  

BMC Health Services Research volume  23 , Article number:  455 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

Long waiting time in hospital leads to patient’s low satisfaction. In addition to reducing the actual waiting time (AWT), we can also improve satisfaction by adjusting the expected waiting time (EWT). Then how much can the EWT be adjusted to attribute a higher satisfaction?

This study was conducted though experimental with hypothetical scenarios. A total of 303 patients who were treated by the same doctor from August 2021 to April 2022 voluntarily participated in this study. The patients were randomly divided into six groups: a control group ( n  = 52) and five experimental groups ( n  = 245). In the control group, the patients were asked their satisfaction degree regarding a communicated EWT (T 0 ) and AWT (T a ) under a hypothetical situation. In the experimental groups, in addition to the same T 0 and T a as the control group, the patients were also asked about their satisfaction degree with the extended communicated EWT (T 1 ). Patients in five experimental groups were given T 1 values with 70, 80, 90, 100, and 110 min respectively. Patients in both control and experiment groups were asked to indicate their initial EWT, after given unfavorable information (UI) in a hypothetical situation, the experiment groups were asked to indicate their extended EWT. Each participant only participated in filling out one hypothetical scenario. 297 valid hypothetical scenarios were obtained from the 303 hypothetical scenarios given.

The experimental groups had significant differences between the initial indicated EWT and extended indicated EWT under the effect of UI (20 [10, 30] vs. 30 [10, 50], Z = -4.086, P  < 0.001). There was no significant difference in gender, age, education level and hospital visit history ( χ 2  = 3.198, P  = 0.270; χ 2  = 2.177, P  = 0.903; χ 2  = 3.988, P  = 0.678; χ 2  = 3.979, P  = 0.264) in extended indicated EWT. As for patient’s satisfaction, compared with the control group, significant differences were found when T 1  = 80 min ( χ 2  = 13.511, P  = 0.004), T 1  = 90 min ( χ 2  = 12.207, P  = 0.007) and T 1  = 100 min ( χ 2  = 12.941, P  = 0.005). When T 1  = 90 min, which is equal to the T a , 69.4% (34/49) of the patients felt “very satisfied”, this proportion is not only significantly higher than that of the control group (34/ 49 vs. 19/52, χ 2  = 10.916, P  = 0.001), but also the highest among all groups. When T 1  = 100 min (10 min longer than T a ), 62.5% (30/48) of the patients felt “very satisfied”, it is significantly higher than that of the control group (30/ 48 vs. 19/52, χ 2  = 6.732, P  = 0.009). When T 1  = 80 min (10 min shorter than T a ), 64.8% (35/54) of the patients felt “satisfied”, it is significantly higher than that of the control group (35/ 54 vs. 17/52, χ 2  = 10.938, P  = 0.001). However, no significant difference was found when T 1  = 70 min ( χ 2  = 7.747, P  = 0.052) and T 1  = 110 min ( χ 2  = 4.382, P  = 0.223).

Conclusions

Providing UI prompts can extend the EWT. When the extended EWT is closer to the AWT, the patient’s satisfaction level can be improved higher. Therefore, medical institutions can adjust the EWT of patient’s through UI release according to the AWT of hospitals to improve patient’s satisfaction.

Peer Review reports

The experience of waiting in outpatient is usually the beginning of interaction between patients and hospitals [ 1 ]. So waiting time is regarded as one of the important indicators of service quality [ 2 ]. Because the demand for medical resources is greater than the supply, the problem of long waiting time in outpatient service is very common [ 3 , 4 ]. Long waiting time can worsen patient’s health conditions [ 5 ], affect public confidence in health facilities [ 6 ] and reduce patient’s satisfaction [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ].

Scholars and hospital managers have focused on efforts to lessen the actual waiting time (AWT) by improving the medical treatment process [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Some hospitals in China simplify the medical treatment process through online payment, which directly reduces the AWT of patients in the hospitals [ 15 , 16 ]. Appointment is another way to reduce the AWT by matching the needs of patients with the supply of medical resources in time [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]. However, appointment no-show can reduce hospitals operational efficiency [ 21 ]. Hospital helps patients complete imaging examinations or laboratory tests before they consulting doctors through artificial intelligence technology to reduce the AWT [ 22 ]. They also try to reduce the AWT of patients by strengthening the personnel on duty during peak hours [ 23 ]. However, because patients in China prefer senior experts and advanced medical equipment, it leads to the short supply of high-quality medical resources and results in further dissatisfaction in large hospitals [ 24 , 25 ].

In addition to focusing on the impact of objective factors such as the AWT and the hospital environment, scholars have paid attention to the psychological feelings of patients [ 26 , 27 , 28 ], because people’s evaluation or judgment of objective things is based on the reference point. Anything above the reference point is regarded as a gain, and people tend to give a positive evaluation when they gain something; by contrast, anything below the reference point is regarded as a loss, and people tend to give a negative evaluation when they lose something [ 29 ]. People’s evaluation of the same objective situation will change when the reference point changes [ 30 ]. Patients in the waiting area have a common feeling that they do not know how long they need to wait, and this uncertainty about waiting time will aggravate their dissatisfaction. In order to reduce uncertainty, it is proved that when individuals receive unfavorable information (UI), their expected waiting time (EWT) will be extended, and when the AWT is between the initial EWT and the extended EWT, the individuals are more satisfied than those who does not extend EWT [ 31 ]. This provides another direction besides focusing on the AWT for hospitals to improve patient’s satisfaction. Meanwhile, in the field of transportation, the AWT of passengers has been accurately predicted [ 32 , 33 ]. This provides a possibility for the prediction of the AWT in outpatient. In fact, models that can be established to predict the needs of patients and the arriving time based on the previous outpatient data has been studied [ 34 , 35 , 36 ]. It is a step forward to predicting the AWT of patients.

Hence, in order to improve patient’s satisfaction and make the adjustment of the EWT can be more maneuverable, based on research before and around the AWT, this paper investigate how much can the EWT be adjusted to attribute a higher satisfaction. The main innovation is that we designed five different experimental groups with extended EWT around the AWT, and compared them with the control group that without the extended EWT one by one. And this experimental is conducted in the hospital and the experimental subjects are the patients.

Experiment design

It was found in healthy people that UI extended the EWT of subjects, and that, moreover, when the AWT was between the initial EWT and the extended EWT, patient’s satisfaction was improved significantly [ 31 ]. In order to investigate how much can the EWT be adjusted to attribute a higher satisfaction? By experiment, we designed a control group and five experimental groups with hypothetical scenarios. All the six groups of experiments consist of three parts: the first part is that patients indicate the EWT under the hypothetical situation. This part mainly explores the impact of UI on the EWT; in the second part, patients are asked to report satisfaction degree with communicated AWT and EWT in hypothetical scenarios. This part mainly discusses how much can the EWT be adjusted to attribute a higher satisfaction. The third part is the basic information of patients.

Specifically, in the first part of the experiments, patients in all groups were asked to indicate their initial EWT (T * 0 ), and then, patients in experimental groups were asked to report their extended EWT (T * 1 ) with the effect of UI in hypothetical scenarios. In the second part of the hypothetical scenario experiments, in the control group, the patients were asked to report their satisfaction of the initial communicated EWT (T 0 ) and the communicated AWT (T a ) under hypothetical scenarios (Table  1 ). In the experimental group scenarios, in addition to the same T 0 and T a as the control group, the patients were also asked about their satisfaction when the T 0 was extended to the communicated EWT (T 1 ). The difference between the five experimental groups was that patients were given different T 1 values (experimental group 1: T 1  = 70; experimental group 1: T 1  = 80; experimental group 1: T 1  = 90; experimental group 1: T 1  = 100; experimental group 1: T 1  = 110 min). In this way when T 0 and T a are fixed, patient’s satisfaction changing at different T 1 can be intuitively analyzed. However, in actual situations, the T * 0 , T * 1 and AWT of patients are different, this will make it difficult to distinguish between the AWT and the EWT when analyzing the satisfaction data. Gender, age, hospital experiences, and other basic information were also obtained.

In this study, the information related to the peak flow of patients was defined as UI. Satisfaction level was categorized as “very dissatisfied”, “dissatisfied”, “satisfied”, and “very satisfied”. The subjects were asked to choose one of the above four levels above to express their satisfaction degree.

Subjects and setting

The study participants were patients who came to the hospital for treatment due to various vision problems. The reason for choosing such patients was to exclude the impact of objective factors on the evaluation results, such as physical pain and disease severity. All patients participating in the experiment were treated by the same doctor (doctor Guo) during the peak hours in every Monday morning from August 2021 to March 2022. In this way, the impact of different doctors’ medical skills and service attitudes on the evaluation results of patients can be weakened. The doctor we chose was a general expert and not a specialized expert, because the appointment of a specialized expert is relatively difficult for patients; then the psychological effect of compensation due to the appointment of a specialized expert would make the patients more willing to wait.

Experimental implementation

The study was conducted in the outpatient department of Zhejiang Eye Hospital in Hangzhou from August 2021 to March 2022. The formula of sample size is expressed as follows: \(n=\frac{{({t}_{1-\alpha }+{t}_{k})}^{2}{\sigma }^{2}}{{\beta }^{2}P(1-P)}\) , where \(n\) is the minimum sample size required for the experiment; with 5% significance level and 80% efficacy, \({({t}_{1-\alpha }+{t}_{k})}^{2}={(1.96+0.84)}^{2}=7.84\) ; \(P\) is the proportion of experimental group to total sample; \(\beta\) is the intervention effect of experimental group compared to control group; \(\sigma\) is the standard deviation [ 37 ]. Let \(\beta =0.5\sigma\) [ 38 ], According to the formula, the minimum sample size is 226, expand the sample size by approximately 30% to carry out the survey. Firstly, we conducted professional training for the experiments’ organizer. Secondly, we randomly rank six groups of hypothetical scenarios, and patients on each Monday fill in one hypothetical scenario, and patients on the next Monday fill in another hypothetical scenario in random order. All hypothetical scenarios are available as supplementary information (Additional file 1 ). Thirdly, during peak hours every Monday morning, after the patients were registered, they went to the waiting room. Before the patients saw the doctor, the experiment organizer explained to them the purpose of the study and the efforts to protect privacy. Then, with the consent of the patients, the experiment organizer gave the hypothetical scenario to patients and collected them. A total of approximately 500 patients were approached, and 303 patients agreed to volunteer to participate in this experiment. Only 297 valid hypothetical scenarios, including 52 in the control group and 245 in the five experimental groups, were obtained. Finally, we transferred the data of the paper hypothetical scenario into the computer.

Ethics statement

This experiment obtained the ethical permission of the Office of Research Ethics, Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, and each patient also signed an informed consent form when participating in the experiment. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Participants were informed at the top of the hypothetical scenario about the purpose of the study and privacy protection. They were also told that they could quit at any time. The obtained data was analyzed anonymously.

Demographic variables

The demographic variables included gender, age, hospital history, and education level.

Satisfaction level

Satisfaction level was categorized as “very dissatisfied”, “dissatisfied”, “satisfied”, and “very satisfied”.

Hypothetical scenarios and tools

In the first part of the hypothetical scenarios, the control group was only asked to indicate their T * 0 . Experimental groups 1–5 were asked to indicate their T * 0 and T * 1 . In the second part of the hypothetical scenarios, the control group were asked to report satisfaction evaluation with T 0 and T a . The experimental groups 1–5 were given different extended T 1 with 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 min. In the third part of the experiment, all subjects were asked about their gender, age, education, and hospital visit experience.

The experiment organizer distributed paper hypothetical scenarios to the patients in the waiting room, and the patients filled in the hypothetical scenarios and returned them to the staff. Each patient completed the whole process within 8–10 min.

Statistical analysis

Data analysis was performed on SPSS 22.0 and involved the non-parametric test of two independent samples. P  <  0.05 indicates a significant difference between the two sample data. We also used descriptive statistical methods.

Baseline characteristics

A total of 303 patients participated in the experiment, and 297 valid hypothetical scenarios were obtained. The proportion of valid hypothetical scenarios was 98.0%, including 52 cases in the control group and 245 cases in the experimental groups. The experimental and control groups had 155 (63.3%) and 27 (51.9%) females respectively (Table  2 ). No significant differences in gender composition ratios were observed ( P  > 0.05). The median age of the subjects was 35.5 years old in the control group and 37.0 years old in the experimental group. The two groups had no significant differences in median age ( P  > 0.05). In the control group, 57.7% of the subjects received graduate education, which was equivalent to the proportion of subjects with the same education level in the experimental groups ( P  > 0.05). Most subjects (78.8%) had a history of hospital visits.

In the five experiment groups, there were no significant differences in gender, age, education and hospital visit history ( χ 2  = 8.642, P  = 0.071; χ 2  = 3.284, P  = 0.512; χ 2  = 0.250, P  = 0.993; χ 2  = 8.371, P  = 0.079).

Unfavorable information extends EWT

In the experimental groups, the median of T * 0 was 20 min before UI was given, 57.1% (140/245) of the patients extended their EWT after UI was given, and the median of patient’s T * 1 was 30 min. patient’s T * 0 and T * 1 in the experimental groups had a significant difference (20 [10, 30] vs. 30 [10, 50], Z  = − 4.086, P  < 0.001). There were no significant differences of the patient’s T * 1 in gender ( χ 2  = 3.198, P  = 0.270), age ( χ 2  = 2.177, P  = 0.903), or education levels ( χ 2  = 3.988, P  = 0.678). Moreover, the patient’s T * 1 between patients with and without a hospital visit history was similar ( χ 2  = 3.979, P  = 0.264). Ratio of the patients extended the EWT by 1–20 min is 35.9%, and ratio of the patients extended their EWT by 41 min or more is 3.7% (Table  3 ).

The extended EWT closer to AWT attribute a higher satisfaction

Patient’s satisfaction was compared between the control and experimental groups. All groups were given the same T a and T 0 as shown in Table  4 . Significant differences in patient’s satisfaction were found compared with the control group when T 1  = 80 min ( χ 2  = 13.511, P  = 0.004), T 1  = 90 min ( χ 2  = 12.207, P  = 0.007), and T 1  = 100 min ( χ 2  = 12.941, P  = 0.005). However, no significant differences in patient’s satisfaction were found when T 1  = 70 min ( χ 2  = 7.747, P  = 0.052) and T 1  = 110 min ( χ 2  = 4.382, P  = 0.223) compared with the control group. This result is basically consistent with research before [ 31 ].

When T 1  = 80 min, 64.8% (35/54) of the patients felt “satisfied” after a longer T 1 was given (Table  4 ). This ratio was higher than that of the control group (35/54 vs. 17/52, χ 2  = 10.938, P  = 0.001). Moreover, the patients who felt “dissatisfied” significantly decreased (5/54 vs. 13/52, χ 2  = 4.656, P  = 0.031). When T 1  = 90 min, 69.4% (34/49) of the patients felt “very satisfied”. This proportion was significantly higher than that of the control group (34/49 vs. 19/52, χ 2  = 10.916, P  = 0.001) and it was the highest among all groups. When T 1  = 100 min, the individuals who felt “dissatisfied” significantly decreased (1/48 vs. 13/52, χ 2  = 10.887, P  = 0.001), however the patients who felt “very satisfied” increased significantly (30/48 vs. 19/52, χ 2  = 6.732, P  = 0.009).

The disadvantages of waiting for a long time are obvious, such as increased hospital costs [ 39 ] and decreased patient’s satisfaction. In China, many hospitals have implemented online appointment and mobile payment, which has partially alleviated the overcrowding and improved patient’s satisfaction in recent years [ 40 ]. But the tertiary hospitals have a large number of critically ill patients from rural areas; compared with limited medical resources, waiting for a long time in the tertiary hospitals is still a prominent problem in China [ 24 ].

The initial EWT of the patients is usually based on the previous experience. After patients arrive at the hospital, their EWT will be affected by the medical conditions observed by the patient and the information provided by the hospital. The EWT of patients can be considerably prolonged under the influence of UI. This finding is consistent with the result of a previous experiment [ 31 ]. Individuals tend to be more alert to UI to eliminate potential hazards [ 41 ]. By doing so, their sense of loss will not make them particularly uncomfortable when their expectations are adjusted to be closer to the final actual situation. However, we also noticed that 42.6% of the patients in the experimental groups did not extend their EWT after receiving UI about the waiting time. We speculated that it might be because there are fewer people in the waiting area than they expected; therefore, they adjusted the EWT according to the actual situation on the spot rather than the hypothetical scenario given in the experiment.

Patient’s satisfaction was improved by extending the EWT. For the same AWT, the experimental groups had higher satisfaction levels compared with the control group. The difference was that the experimental groups received UI and adjusted the EWT. The EWT can be regarded as a reference point [ 31 ], and the reference point is the core factor determining people’s evaluation results [ 42 ]. People will depend on the reference point, which means that individuals make decisions based on gains and losses relative to the reference point and not only on the actual result [ 43 ]. If the actual situation is better than the reference point, then individuals tend to give a positive evaluation; otherwise, they tend to give a negative evaluation [ 44 ].

However, the adjustment of the EWT caused by UI prompts provided cannot substantially improve patient’s satisfaction in all cases. It was found that when the AWT was between the initial EWT and the extended EWT under the influence of UI, the patient’s satisfaction was significantly improved [ 31 ]. This shows that the impact of extended EWT on patient’s satisfaction is limited. On this basis, this study further investigated how much can the EWT be adjusted to attribute a higher satisfaction, we found that patient’s satisfaction was improved when the EWT was adjusted closer to the AWT. Because uncertainty is one of the most significant factors leading to anxiety and other negative emotions [ 45 ]. Information about the waiting time can reduce the uncertainty of the waiting time and reduce the pressure on patients. Moreover, accurate information can enhance the patient’s trust in the hospital service level and thus increase patient’s satisfaction. However, patient’s satisfaction does not improve when the adjusted EWT is far from the AWT. It was probably because the patients felt cheated when they found that the AWT was very different from the information released by the hospital.

Limitations

The main limitation of this study is that this experiment was carried out only in the consulting room of a doctor in an optometry hospital, and most of the patients have only slight physiological discomfort. Therefore, the tolerance of waiting time may be different from those with other types of diseases and physiological pain. Therefore, patient’s tolerance to the AWT under different degrees of physiological discomfort and the satisfaction with the adjustment of the EWT are topics worthy of further discussion.

Through the behavioral experiment in the hospital, we conclude that the release of UI based on the actual medical situation in the hospital can extend patient’s EWT. An extended EWT closer to the AWT results in a higher overall satisfaction level. It helps the adjustment of the EWT more targeted. The method of improving patient’s satisfaction through real-time information release is applicable to hospitals with a serious queuing problem. Therefore, medical institutions can also pay attention to the EWT of patients while reducing the AWT, because this economical method can also help improve patient’s satisfaction and more practical for hospital management.

Data Availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

The actual waiting time

The expected waiting time

The initial indicated expected waiting time

The extended indicated expected waiting time

The initial communicated expected waiting time

The extended communicated actual waiting time

The extended communicated expected waiting time

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Acknowledgements

We authors thank Neng-Li Wang and Man Zhang for valuable comments and suggestions. We also thank the chief editor and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

This work was supported by National Social Science Foundation of China (grant number 20BGL115). The funding body was not responsible for the study design, collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or manuscript writing.

Author information

Hui Zhang and Wei-Min Ma contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

School of Economics and Management, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

Hui Zhang & Wei-Min Ma

Scientific Research Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University (Zhejiang Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Hangzhou, 310000, China

Jing-Jing Zhu

Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University at Hangzhou, Zhejiang Eye Hospital at Hangzhou, Hangzhou, 310000, China

Li Wang & Zhen-Jie Guo

School of Economics and Management, Wenzhou University of Technology, Wenzhou, 325000, China

Xiang-Tang Chen

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All authors contributed to the design of this study. The data was prepared by WM-M and ZJ-G. Statistical analysis was performed by JJ-Z and XT-C. The first draft of the manuscript was prepared by ZH. WL reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.

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Correspondence to Li Wang .

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Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The experimental has been approved by the Office of Research Ethics, Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (NO: 2021-097-K-81-01). Each patient also signed an informed consent form when participating in the experiment. The study was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Zhang, H., Ma, WM., Zhu, JJ. et al. How to adjust the expected waiting time to improve patient’s satisfaction?. BMC Health Serv Res 23 , 455 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09385-9

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09385-9

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Heat-Related E.R. Visits Rose in 2023, C.D.C. Study Finds

By Noah Weiland

Reporting from Washington

The rate of emergency room visits caused by heat illness increased significantly last year in large swaths of the country compared with the previous five years, according to a study published on Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The research, which analyzed visits during the warmer months of the year, offers new insight into the medical consequences of the record-breaking heat recorded across the country in 2023 as sweltering temperatures stretched late into the year.

What the Numbers Say: People in the South were especially affected by serious heat illness.

The researchers used data on emergency room visits from an electronic surveillance program used by states and the federal government to detect the spread of diseases. They compiled the number of heat-related emergency room visits in different regions of the country and compared them to data from the previous five years.

Nearly 120,000 heat-related emergency room visits were recorded in the surveillance program last year, with more than 90 percent of them occurring between May and September, the researchers found.

The highest rate of visits occurred in a region encompassing Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. Overall, the study also found that men and people between the ages of 18 and 64 had higher rates of visits.

How It Happens: Heat can be a silent killer, experts and health providers say.

Last year was the warmest on Earth in a century and a half, with the hottest summer on record . Climate scientists have attributed the trend in part to greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on global warming, and they have warned that the timing of a shift in tropical weather patterns last year could foreshadow an even hotter 2024.

Heat illness often occurs gradually over the course of hours, and it can cause major damage to the body’s organs . Early symptoms of heat illness can include fatigue, dehydration, nausea, headache, increased heart rate and muscle spasms.

People do not typically think of themselves as at high risk of succumbing to heat or at greater risk than they once were, causing them to underestimate how a heat wave could lead them to the emergency room, said Kristie L. Ebi, a professor at the University of Washington who is an expert on the health risks of extreme heat.

“The heat you were asked to manage 10 years ago is not the heat you’re being asked to manage today,” she said. One of the first symptoms of heat illness can be confusion, she added, making it harder for someone to respond without help from others.

What Happens Next: States and hospitals are gearing up for another summer of extreme heat.

Dr. Srikanth Paladugu, an epidemiologist at the New Mexico Department of Health, said the state had nearly 450 heat-related emergency room visits in July last year alone and over 900 between April and September, more than double the number recorded during that stretch in 2019.

In preparation for this year’s warmer months, state officials are working to coordinate cooling shelters and areas where people can be splashed by water, Dr. Paladugu said.

Dr. Aneesh Narang, an emergency medicine physician at Banner-University Medical Center in Phoenix, said he often saw roughly half a dozen heat stroke cases a day last summer, including patients with body temperatures of 106 or 107 degrees. Heat illness patients require enormous resources, he added, including ice packs, fans, misters and cooling blankets.

“There’s so much that has to happen in the first few minutes to give that patient a chance for survival,” he said.

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“Every year now we’re doing this earlier and earlier,” he said. “We know that the chances are it’s going to be the same or worse.”

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The ACT has Australia's longest emergency room wait times, but the government says things are improving

It's the situation no mum wants to be in. 

In November 2022, Alice Henshaw took her five-week-old baby Arthur to her lactation consultant and received news she wasn't expecting.

The consultant told her to take him to Canberra Hospital urgently. 

"She weighed him and said that he had lost weight and she could hear a heart murmur," Ms Henshaw said.

"She sent them a letter to let them know that I was coming."

But despite arriving as quickly as she could, she wasn't seen for five hours. 

"It was scary being told that he had a heart murmur and then not being checked on for multiple hours," she said.

When they were seen by a doctor, Ms Henshaw and her husband Josh Henshaw were told her son was in heart failure.

"They told us that he had heart failure and that they were going to fly him to Westmead Hospital that night, and then left us for about an hour," she said.

'"We thought potentially we were going to lose him."

Further examination showed Arthur was not in as bad a condition as doctors first feared, and they waited to send him to Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney the following day.

But they said they felt they weren't communicated with quickly enough at multiple stages during their time there.

"We didn't feel supported there at all," she said.

It's not the only time Ms Henshaw has experienced the ACT's notoriously long emergency department wait times . 

Late last year, she contracted gastroenteritis while pregnant with her second baby. 

Again, she went to the emergency department where she faced another five-hour wait before she was seen by a doctor.

"I just couldn't keep anything down, even water — I had to keep going to the public toilet in the emergency department to throw up," she said.

"I just wanted them to check the baby was OK because I hadn't felt any movement in a little while and they just said that there was nothing they could do.

"Every time I go to that hospital I get anxiety."

The couple said they were concerned for other Canberrans experiencing similar wait times.

"I think the comparison of Westmead Children's Hospital to the Canberra Hospital is amazing — I couldn't fault the hospital up there, it's just completely different."

ACT ranks last for fifth year in a row

Statistics show Ms Henshaw's experiences are not rare. 

The latest annual public hospital report card from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) ranks the ACT in last place for wait times at emergency departments. 

It's the fifth year in a row the territory has been named the worst "four-hour rule" performer in Australia.

That means in the 2022-23 period a record low of only 48 per cent of emergency department visits in the ACT were completed within four hours of less. 

However, the report did show a slight increase in the number of urgent emergency patients being seen within the clinically-recommended time frame of 30 minutes.

That figure has risen to 41 per cent, which is still 17 per cent below the national average.

Australian Medical Association president-elect Kerrie Aust said action needed to be taken.

But she's not convinced the solution is more funding for nurse-led walk-in centres. 

"We've had ten years of walk-in clinics, and we've seen a decline in our capacity to service the community with emergency departments because we're having more people present," Dr Aust said.

"We need to look at how we ... are supporting GP practices to extend their hours, how are we making sure they're funded to have the doctors and the nurses and the reception staff available."

She said she believed one solution was for the federal government to increase bulk-billing rates, meaning more Australians could turn to their doctor instead of the emergency department.

ACT government says things are improving

Dr Aust acknowledged the report card didn't take into account all the complexities of an emergency department presentation, describing wait-times as a "blunt tool" for analysis.

She also noted it was likely new strategies in place at North Canberra Hospital and Canberra Hospital hadn't yet translated into data improvements. 

Nonetheless, she said it was important to acknowledge there had been a decline in performance at the emergency departments in Canberra over time. 

The ACT government hit back even further, saying things had improved since the AMA's data set was taken. 

ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said there had been improvements during the 2023 calendar year in particular. 

"Are we going to be the best in the country? Probably not, because our hospitals are kind of different structures to the rest of the country," she said.

"The more recent reports that I have been able to release using our operational data indicate that we've continued to see an improvement.

"That's a result of significant investments that we've made in our emergency departments."

Ms Stephen-Smith said she wanted to focus on how many category three patients were seen within 30 minutes, a figure which had improved. 

"I don't want to paint too rosy a picture ... I know we've got a lot more work to do," she said. 

"It is about more staff, so we have invested significantly in additional staff across both of our emergency departments."

Ms Stephen-Smith said there had also been improvements to the navigation service within emergency departments to manage patient flow. 

The establishment of an acute medical unit for people with complex conditions had also helped remove patients from the waiting room faster, she said.

She said there had also been significant work to improve bed-block across the hospital more broadly. 

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Auxilio Mutuo Hospital Selects Oracle Health’s EHR to Improve Patient Experience

Adds Oracle Health RevElate to help boost operational efficiency and streamline billing processes across the hospital

Auxilio Mutuo Hospital, an academic, private non-profit hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has selected Oracle Health's electronic health record (EHR) to provide clinicians and staff with a comprehensive, simplified view of a patient’s health information. The new system is designed to help Auxilio Mutuo create a better patient experience by increasing coordination across care teams and improving communications between clinicians and patients. Auxilio Mutuo is also adding Oracle Health’s RevElate Patient Accounting to help automate its entire billing process and bring together a more convenient, transparent view of clinical and financial information.

“With the ever-changing healthcare environment, we need a vendor that matches Auxilio Mutuo’s clinical experience and offers a robust electronic health records system,” said Jorge L. Matta-Serrano, executive director, Auxilio Mutuo. “Oracle is the right partner to help us transform the way we deliver care and increase revenue in the future.”

Oracle Health’s first customer in Puerto Rico, Auxilio Mutuo was one of the first health systems on the island to successfully implement an EHR more than a decade ago, but they needed to upgrade the system to address some of the region’s biggest challenges. In recent years, Puerto Rico has lived under threat of natural disasters. For example, Hurricane Fiona made landfall in September 2022—just five years after Hurricane Maria devastated the island—causing a widespread loss of access to clean water and power.

As the health system continues to rebuild and expand, its new Oracle Health EHR will provide a stable and secure system to help Auxilio Mutuo’s care teams make more informed decisions when it matters most. The EHR can also reduce administrative tasks to help drive efficiency while helping improve patient care and experiences.

“Auxilio Mutuo provides a textbook example of how strategic technology deployments and innovation can enhance the clinician and patient experience with the goal to ultimately help improve health and financial outcomes,” said Seema Verma, executive vice president and general manager, Oracle Health and Oracle Life Sciences. “Oracle Health’s modern, open, and connected technology helps hospitals and health systems like Auxilio Mutuo overcome some of their most complex challenges, supports their caregivers in spending more time with patients, and aids in reducing administrative tasks.”

Visit our website to learn more about how Oracle is advancing healthcare.

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Kelsey haynes.

• Oracle Public Relations
• [email protected]

About Auxilio Mutuo

Auxilio Mutuo Hospital is a general and specialized services, private, non-profit institution that has been providing healthcare services to the population of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean for 140 years. The Hospital has over 2,000 employees, and more than 500 physicians as part of the medical staff. Some of the services provided to the community include Auxilio Cardiovascular Center, Auxilio Cancer Center, Auxilio Radiotherapy Center, Auxilio Transplant Center, Auxilio Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy, Auxilio Specialized Rehabilitation Unit, Auxilio Sleep Disorders Center, among others. Visit us at www.auxiliomutuo.com/eng .

About Oracle

Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com .

Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company—ushering in the new era of cloud computing.

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© Tank King

Texas Linebacker Tank King Has "Amazing" Experience During Notre Dame Visit

• Author: Ryan Roberts
• Publish date: Apr 21, 2024

In this story:

Notre Dame hosted a number of talented prospects during its Blue-Gold Game, and that list included Port Arthur (Texas) Memorial star linebacker TaiYion “Tank” King . The talented 2026 defender made his first trip to Notre Dame after being a part of the Pot of Gold offer push back in March. The Texas standout has continued to sing nothing but praises for the Irish staff. That remained true on his first visit to South Bend. 

"The visit overall was amazing,” King told Irish Breakdown. "My favorite parts were getting to know the coaching staff and what it means to be a part of the Notre Dame family and tradition.”

King had the chance to check out a lot during the visit, including the game, campus and athletic facilities. A big element of this visit was also getting to develop deeper relationships with the Notre Dame coaches. There were several members of the staff who really impressed King, starting with head coach Marcus Freeman . 

"Coach Freeman is a great coach and we talked about what the Notre Dame football program stands for,” said King. "He then talked about the direction it’s moving to and how good of a direction that is.”

Then there was defensive coordinator Al Golden , who King sees as an experienced coach who has full command of the defense. He was able to gain a lot from his wisdom. 

"Coach Golden has so much experience and in the short time talking to him,” King stated. "I learned a lot about the little things that I am going to take back and use going forward in how I play defense. He made me see defense in a new way and I can appreciate it all.”

Last, but certainly not least, King got some quality time with linebackers coach Max Bullough . The two found common ground, bonding over their mindsets and deep love for the position. 

"Coach Max is a great linebacker coach,” King explained. "He played linebacker and it’s always good to be taught by someone that played that position because they know what to look for and how to help you go to the next level.”

Heading into the visit, King had a high opinion of the Notre Dame program. Leaving it, that opinion is on a completely new level. 

"Notre Dame is a school that has a name that stands alone, and leaving shows that it’s more than just the name,” he explained. "It’s a culture, and the atmosphere is like no other. I see myself fitting at the school because it’s small and fitting in the program because the staff wants to teach and wants players that want to win and make it to the next level, but also want to win in the classroom.”

More importantly, King leaves the trip with a clear sense of his fit with the Irish. He can absolutely see himself sporting the Blue and Gold. 

"I think I would fit in the way they run their defense and the way they play their linebackers because of how fast I can learn their plays and how determined I am to be a part of the program,” he said. "Their pitch is to come be part of something that is nowhere like it in the county.” 

King has been putting together quite the offer list so far. Some of the premier programs who have extended offers to date include the Fighting Irish, Texas, Florida, Penn State, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Washington, Missouri, Arizona, Texas Tech, UCF, Houston, Baylor and SMU among others.

The 6-0, 195-pound linebacker is well regarded from a recruiting ranking perspective so far. He is ranked as a four-star and a top 100 overall player by both On3 and Rivals, sitting at No. 70 and No. 98 overall respectively. King is rated as the No. 8 player from the state of Texas on the On3 Industry ranking, which is an area that Notre Dame has prioritized in recent recruiting classes. 

During a dynamic sophomore campaign for Memorial, King finished with 138 total tackles, 22 tackles for loss and eight sacks. King also recovered a fumble and broke up three passes. 

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