SHOULD YOU? CAN YOU? WILL YOU?SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT MANAGINGPATENT SATISFACTION FORSTRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

摘要

The quality movement in health care is a relativelyrecent development. Fundamental changes in the healthcare system have created shifts in societal views of cost,quality and value. Hospital and other providers are onlybeginning to understand the need to monitor outcomes andoffer value. Today, managed care plans and purchasingalliances control many health care purchases rather thanindividual, isolated patients but, particularly in tight labormarkets, employers must be sensitive to employee demandsfor choice. Further, within health care plans, individualpatients remain critical decisionmakers and their influenceis likely to increase. Trends in consumerism (driven by thebaby boomers and their emphasis on convenience,information and service) and employee benefits (movingfrom defined benefits to defined contributions) willcontinue to grow in influence. As providers are challengedto measure quality (and, therefore, outcomes), patientsatisfaction will emerge as a critical success factor and,eventually will be viewed and managed as a strategicasset. Given its broad coverage of care events and its easeof comprehension, patient satisfaction data will aid patientsand purchasers in their decisions and negotiations, whileenhancing provider efforts at continuous qualityimprovement. And, it will reaffirm the role of caringbehaviors in an increasingly impersonal medical system.