Where is healthcare broken?
By Jim Mahon, PhD
The incoming administration has plans to fix our healthcare system. It is important to keep patient experience and satisfaction as a factor in this re-invention of the system. Surely, getting increased access to those who now have little or no health insurance is paramount.
But along the way, we want to preserve the features that make our healthcare system one that most patients are satisfied with. Don’t break the positive experience that those with coverage now have with their providers. At the same time, The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey indicates a lower level of delight with payers … so there is room for improving here.
Overall survey results from the 2008 CAHPS Health Plan Survey remain consistent with those of previous years. The survey indicates we are happy with the care provided by physicians and with the way in which doctors communicate with us about healthcare issues:
The majority of survey respondents rate their medical care providers highly. 60% of respondents across all sectors rated their personal doctors and specialists either 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale where 0 is the worst possible and 10 is the best possible. While this is positive … it still points out that 40% of our doctors need an improved bedside manner so even where the system is doing well, we can still get better. Medicare enrollees gave the highest ratings across the sectors, with nearly 75% of Medicare respondents rating their personal doctors either 9 or 10.
Respondents report the most positive experiences for questions related to how well doctors communicate. Nearly 70% or more of all respondents report that their doctors always explain things, listen carefully, and show respect for what they had to say. These positive reports about doctor communication appear to be related to or consistent with the high ratings for personal doctors.
Our disappointment with the healthcare system is focused on how health plans address our needs and how they place barriers to accessing specialists. The plans should be sitting up worried at night at how they are disappointing their customers who generate the revenue that keep these plans in business. The facts show clear indication that the patient experience is way below that of the professionals who actually provide our care. There is a lot of righteous anger falling upon greedy financial services companies and healthcare plan managers should be moving now to improve the experience they provide to their customers.
Take a look at these two facts from the CAHPS survey:
Respondents rate their health plans and overall health care lower than they rate their personal doctors and specialists. Commercial plan enrollees rate their health plans the lowest across the sectors, with only 40% of respondents in 2007 and 36% of respondents in 2008 scoring their plans a 9 or 10. Less than 50% of both Medicaid and Commercial plan enrollees rate their overall health care a “9″ or “10″.
Respondents report the least positive experiences for questions about getting needed care. Less than half of Medicaid and Commercial plan respondents report that it was always easy getting appointments with specialists they needed to see. Similarly, just over 50% of respondents reported “always” getting the care, tests, and treatments they thought they needed through their health plan. These relatively negative reports appear to be associated with lower health plan ratings.
So while the incoming administration looks at how to make affordable coverage accessible to everyone, they should also be encouraging existing healthcare plan managers to improve the overall customer (patient) experience with the consumers who are increasingly paying more of the bills while not getting the service we all expect in return.
Where is the healthcare system broken? The facts point at the insurers.
Filed Under: Patient Experience
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