Your Community... What Do They Know About Your Hospital?
By Barbara C. Carey and Mike McCall, RN
Information drives decisions. What does your community or communities know about your hospital or hospital system?
What primary care physicians are associated with the hospital? Is your community aware of their credentials, accessibility to “same day” or “next day” appointments, acceptance of Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurance? These are the key information drivers of referrals.
Are potential patients aware that they can access lab testing and imaging at your hospital if they have a physician referral and that the physician does not have to practice in your facility? Do they have information on access to those services in your hospital?
Are there videos on your website of physicians talking about their philosophy of care and treatments? Videos significantly increase referrals according to research studies.
What are the patient satisfaction ratings of your hospital? If they are above national averages, this is key information for the community to know.
Who are the specialists practicing at your hospital? What are their credentials? What insurance do they accept? How accessible are appointments?
What services does your Emergency Room offer? Telepysch?
Telestroke? In rural areas, patients could save time and travel if they knew that these services are available locally.
Are they aware that you have rehabilitation services for post- surgical care and cardiac patients? Are they aware that your rehabilitation staff members are nationally certified?
Is your community aware of all your services? Our Focus Groups often produce "Shock and Awe" about the quality and scope of services provided.
These are just a few key facts that your community needs to know in order to be persuaded to use your hospital. There are many more!
It is important to not “take for granted” the knowledge that a potential patient has about your hospital. TCI customizes strategies to increase community engagement and knowledge for your specific market. Infusing key information into your community consistently and with enough frequency, increases patient utilization.
Patients drive needless hours to access care that is available locally because they simply don't have the information, or they don't know the quality of services offered.
Much work needs to be done to encourage the patients closest to the hospital to try the services that the hospital offers. There is probably more leakage from your primary service area than you know. To capture 20%-25% of that current leakage could make a significant contribution to a hospital's cash flow.
If you want to know what your potential patients know about your hospital, TCI can do focus groups that give actionable information.
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Call Us 1-888-922-2824 or Email barbara@tciconsults.com
