“Patients are more satisfied when we take the time to give them the information for an informed decision; and the side benefit is better quality, more savings, everything we are trying to accomplish.”
A recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey reveals about 10 percent of group practices now factor patient satisfaction survey results into physician compensation. At Baylor Scott & White, 5 percent of physicians’ pay depends on those scores, Dr. Fuller- ton says.
Visit
http://bit.ly/19uTM2S for more information about MGMA’s 2013 Perfor- mance and Practices of Successful Medical Groups, which can be purchased. Some accreditation organizations also
vent them from getting needed care,” he said. “If you start with a patient-centered perspective and create tools to allow for a better-informed and shared decision, you create a better experience for the patient; we find that patients are more satisfied when we take the time to give them the information for an informed decision; and the side benefit is better quality, more savings, everything we are trying to accomplish.” Dr. Fullerton says it may take more
time on the front end to sort through pa- tients’ preconceptions or behaviors sur- rounding certain treatments, but build- ing that trust pays off in the long run. “In terms of managing a panel of pa- tients, it takes less time once you devel- op that trust and shared knowledge. The next time you recommend a new drug, the patient says, ‘That makes sense’; you come to a quicker decision; and patients don’t continue to need as much explana- tion,” he said.
Hitting the bottom line At a time when health outcomes are a significant focus of the health care sys-
50 TEXAS MEDICINE March 2014
tem, the role patients’ reported experi- ences play in that equation could affect physicians’ bottom line. Next year, Medicare penalties will
kick in for physician groups of 100 or more that did not start reporting certain quality data as of 2013, under the Phy- sician Quality Reporting System. That includes patient satisfaction measures. (See “Penalties Add Up,” May 2013 Tex- as Medicine, pages 35–39.) Similar PQRS requirements will likely follow for small- er groups, although for now, reporting patient feedback is optional. Eventually, the public will be able to access the in- formation through the Medicare Physi- cian Compare website,
www.medicare .gov/physiciancompare. Private payers are likely to follow suit, or at least begin using Medicare’s public data as a benchmark, says Terri D. Nuss, who oversees Baylor Scott & White’s Office of Patient Centeredness. As such information becomes publicly available, everyone from public and private payers to employers will come to the negotiat- ing table expecting it, a trend that has begun on the hospital side.
require physicians to report patient sat- isfaction results. Keller family physician Gregory M. Fuller, MD, says his practice, North Hills Family Medicine, must con- duct patient satisfaction surveys as a requirement for maintaining its status as a National Committee for Quality As- surance (NCQA)-certified medical home. Even so, the TMA Council on Health Care Quality member says, it just makes good business sense. Although his prac- tice is not yet under any financial man- dates to report patient feedback, he says the process helps the practice stay ahead of that curve by evaluating itself. In the exam room, patients may be
reluctant to provide feedback about their health care experience. Satisfaction sur- veys “give patients a neutral site to give you an unbiased opinion so that you can improve,” Dr. Fuller said. Sometimes pa- tients are the best, if not only, source for certain information, such as how long they have to wait to be seen, and “as a business, you want to touch base with your clients to find out not only how you can be a better business, but also how to provide better medical care.” While payment is becoming a main driver for collecting patient experi- ence data, Dr. Walters highlights other side benefits: For one, happy patients mean happy practice employees. That translates to lower staff turnover. And, he adds, patients who trust their physi- cians and staff are more likely to follow instructions, which lessens the practice’s workload. They are also more likely to refer other patients, and that increases practice viability. Happy patients also mean lower medical liability risk for the practice.
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