What Drives Patient Satisfaction In Spine Care?

Category: Spine Surgery | Author: Stefano Sinicropi

Patient Satisfaction Rates

When it comes to caring for patients, every physician wants to do everything in their power to provide the patient with the best care possible. That begins well before the surgical operation and continues long after the last suture has been stitched. But how can providers best care for patients, and what are patients looking for throughout their care? We take a look at the driving factors behind patient satisfaction when it comes to spinal care.

5-Star Satisfaction

After looking at a recent study in Spine, as well as glancing at our own reviews and testimonials, we’re able to draw some clear conclusions about what forces drive patient satisfaction. According to researchers and our own reviews, patients are most likely to leave strong reviews or have a positive experience if they feel confident and develop trust in the surgeon. A surgeon’s job isn’t just to open you up and fix the problem, they also have to explain the procedure, answer questions, develop a rehab plan and help the patient along with their recovery. There’s a lot more to enhancing a patient’s experience than simply performing a surgery.

Another factor that drives patient satisfaction when it comes to spine care is surgeon knowledge. Again, having this knowledge is important, but so too is conveying this knowledge to the patient in a way in which they understand and can benefit from. It can be easy to fall into a trap where as a surgeon, you know what needs to be done and you just want to move ahead with the procedure, but you need to take the time to explain your thought processes to the patient to help put their mind at ease. Taking that extra time to share your knowledge of the spine with patients will foster trust and increase patient satisfaction.

What Torpedos Satisfaction Rates?

According to the study published in Spine, there were three common complaints that led to negative reviews for a surgeon or a surgical facility, and interestingly, none of them had anything to do with the surgeon or the results of the operation itself. The three factors that most often contributed to poor reviews after a spinal procedure were:

  • Poor interaction with a medical staff member.
  • An issue with billing.
  • Poor experience with receptionist/non-medical staff, or issues with scheduling or wait times.

As you can see, all it can take is a minor misunderstanding with one small aspect of the care team to tank a patient experience. We know this, our staff knows this, and we work hard to prevent any issues that may occur before you reach our surgical team.

It’s also interesting to note how all the above factors can play off one another. For example, wait times may be necessary if a surgeon is going to take their time to truly pass their knowledge along to other patients. We’re not going to rush one patient out of the office in order to get the next in. We work hard to schedule patients so that each can get the individual attention they need, but at the same time, delays are bound to happen when working with a structure as complicated as a spine.

If you experience any issues that have soured your experience, please reach out to us so we can help fix your situation and prevent problems for patients in the future. We want to provide the best care to each patient and leave everyone satisfied with their experience. We’ve thrived with this model in the past, but there’s always room for growth. If you’ve had a positive experience, we’d love to hear from you on our social channels, and if we can improve somewhere, we’re always listening. Trust your spine to us, and we’re confident that we’ll be able to leave you satisfied with all levels of your care.

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