Art of patient satisfaction meets the science of medicine

An American article, written by Evelyn Theiss and published on Cleveland has some good points about patient experience . . .

• Research has shown a correlation between patient experience and outcomes - good experience and good clinical outcomes tend to go hand in hand (this point can be argued both ways, with a good outcome predisposing to a good experience - chicken or egg!!!)
• Replacing yes/no questions with more open questions is important such as "why do you think you have this symptom?" shows the knowledge patients already have about their condition and helps make appointments as effective and useful as possible
• "There is more the quality health care than great outcomes. There is the entire experience that patients have ... it is about communication and the expression of care and concern at times when they are most needed."
• "Medicine has gone from high-touch to high-tech" - this is very true and continuing to evolve towards high-tech with the focus and hope of tele-health (maybe at the expense of human care and time)