According to an article published in USA Today, hospitals are turning toward patients and their family members for suggestions to improve quality of care.
A number of hospitals in the Nashville, Tennessee, area are trying to ensure their patients' voice is part of their planning efforts. For this purpose they have established LifePoint Health, a national patient experience advisory board that includes patient perspectives in the hospital's planning process. The initiative is part of a quality program that has been created in partnership with Duke University Health System to improve patient care, experience and safety.
Dawn Rudolph, chief experience officer at Saint Thomas' Health in Nashville, explains that patient feedback can play an important role in improving patient care.
According to Patrick Testa, a consultant with the facility planning forum for the Advisory Board Company. "We are no longer in an environment where if you build it, they will come," he said. "To succeed in the future, the key for health systems will be to attract and retain patients by meeting a new set of consumer demands. A better-informed, cost-conscious patient is becoming a key decision-maker in the marketplace."
Source: USA Today
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
