U.S. News & World Report recently released its 2019-2020 Best Hospitals ratings. The annual rankings are designed to help patients and doctors make informed decisions about where to seek care.
Major changes in the methodology this year include the addition of patient experience data. Positive patient experience is a crucial element of maximizing patient-centered quality, and it has been shown to correlate with better outcomes.
Simply put, hospitals with the best patient experience report better financial performance and higher clinical quality. These hospitals realize that the patient experience starts in the home, before a patient is admitted, and continues long after discharge. They connect with patients and monitor their progress throughout their entire healthcare journey, outside the four walls of the hospital in patients’ everyday lives.
96% of Americans—aka “patients”—own a mobile phone and 81% own a smartphone. Patient experience is enhanced when hospitals connect with their patients where they already are: on these mobile devices.
How can creating a top-notch mobile patient experience help hospitals succeed?
Hospitals with better patient experience scores perform better financially. A recent Deloitte study shows that good patient experience is associated with higher hospital profitability. Improving the hospital experience drives patient satisfaction scores, revenue and referrals.
Providers and hospital staff increase productivity by using technology to manage necessary, repetitive work. Shifting the burden from hospital employees, patient engagement technology creates efficiencies while improving outcomes.
Patients who feel confident in their self-care abilities are more likely to experience better outcomes and fewer readmissions. The theory that “confidence supports competence” stems from renowned psychologist Albert Bandura’s work on self-efficacy. The more connected patients are, the higher confidence and satisfaction levels rise—along with the hospital’s rating and reputation.
Among the patients of healthcare organizations using UbiCare’s SmarteXp® mobile engagement solution, 90% report feeling more connected to their hospital, and 87% feel more confident to manage their care.
We send congratulations to our clients who were included on the U.S. News & World Report list, and to all hospitals for their efforts in building an optimal patient experience.
Learn more about how the best hospitals deliver the right mobile message at the right time to the right patient—before, during and after a hospital stay.