Ryerson Says Good Communication Helps Elevate Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction

June 21, 2010 - Download Word Doc

AKRON, Ohio (June 21, 2010) - Hospitals striving for better emergency department patient satisfaction ratings can help themselves through effective communication with patients and other stakeholders.

Improvement in emergency department patient satisfaction typically leads to gains in volume and market share, according to Ryerson Healthcare Consultants, medical revenue specialists and the nation's leader in emergency department improvement. Ryerson serves clients with a process based on best practices and experience with more than 540 hospitals in 40 states.

Ryerson develops solutions tailored to healthcare organizations' specific challenges, and has helped hospitals elevate their emergency department patient satisfaction through process improvements and communication about their efforts. Ryerson's emergency department consultants remain engaged with clients during implementation to ensure success, and recommend they share news about their successes with their stakeholder audiences.

"ED process improvement requires dedication and commitment on the part of our client hospitals, and we have proven that letting patients and the community know what is happening has great advantages," President Peter Ryerson said. "We want communities to know their hospitals are working to improve processes."

He said while committing to and following through on a well-mapped improvement process is important, hospitals gain additional value when they communicate with their patients and the community about their accomplishments.

His organization's ED improvement process is part of "The Ryerson Way," the tenants of which include establishing understanding that the recommendations will work, remaining flexible to execute change, and always being mindful about doing the right thing for patients.

"Improving processes is challenging, and patients and the community at large gain understanding and appreciation when they are informed about their hospital's initiatives that result in benefits such as timely medical attention, reduced patient stays, better documented procedures, and overall elevated service," Ryerson said.

Reduced door-to-doctor wait times, just one of the benefits of ED process improvement, can improve emergency department patient satisfaction by more than 5 percentage points alone, and the number often is better.

"Once a hospital has made the commitment to ED process improvement, why hide that light under a bushel?" Ryerson said. "Sharing that news heightens awareness and appreciation, and the benefit is better emergency department patient satisfaction ratings, which typically lead to bigger market share and increased revenue."

Contact: Peter Ryerson

Ryerson Healthcare Consultants

330-670-6900

Email Peter