For over a decade, I have consistently seen the patient satisfaction rates of wound care centers, and not just ours, soar into the high ninety percent range and never come down. Why is that?In today's environment where patient satisfaction rates may very well dictate reimbursement levels in the near future, wound care centers stand out as an exceptional patient friendly service line. Consider the structure of a center; at least once a week, a patient sees a full nursing team, a physician, and receives a comprehensive review of their issues. (As a nurse once told me; "We don't treat the hole in the patient, we treat the whole patient") Where else can patients receive that level of care every week?Second the social aspect. Many patient come to know the team at a c enter very well and often times actually look forward to coming weekly. (Some never want to stop, even when the wound is healed, but that is a different blog) The clinical team at a wound center not only have to be exceptional clinicians, they also have to be extrordinary listners. A high percentage of our patients are non-compliant. The true secret of healing their wounds is understanding their reasons for not following Physician orders and helping them overcome those issues. This approach often times gives our patients the ear that they have needed.Third is care coordination. An important aspect of the Program Director's job at each center, is to develop strong relationships with directors of other services. This inter-relational care community approach, allows for the director or clinical staff to help a patient cut through the confusion, red tape, and often times the frustration of getting other needed services. Our wound care team members were patient navigators years before we ever heard the term.Obviously these are only a few reasons why the scores remain so high for this service line, and of course having WCA working with you helps your cause quite a bit as well. (Just saying) Either way, an outpatient program could have a great effect on your hospital's patient satisfaction scores.
