3 Reasons Why Patient Satisfaction Surveys Are Not Enough
Most hospitals and healthcare systems rely heavily on patient satisfaction surveys to both measure and guide their patient experience improvement efforts. It is obviously critical in any effort to improve the patient experience that an organization has a deep understanding of the needs and desires of its various audiences. But patient satisfaction surveys alone are usually not enough to truly impact the patient experience at a hospital, clinic or other healthcare organization.
1. First, surveys (and focus groups as well) do not allow researchers to dig deep enough into the mind of the consumer.
In his book, How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman uses research to show that 90% of what influences a consumer’s decisions and preferences lies in the unconscious mind. Because surveys only tap the conscious mind, they often miss true insights into the preferences of consumers. In fact, consumers are not aware of the hundreds or thousands of factors that influence their decisions and preferences, so simply asking for that information in a survey will rarely expose the deeper insights necessary to make breakthroughs in providing superior products or services. Zaltman’s book proposes in-depth interviews using storytelling and metaphor as a better way to collect information from consumers.
In what ways do you dig deeper with your patients to look for hidden wants or untapped opportunities?
2. Second, consumers are notoriously fickle.
What they say in a survey or a focus group doesn’t always jibe with what they really want, or may change from day to day, or situation to situation. In the article, “Coming of Age of Corporate Anthropology,” in the Summer 2004 issue of @issue: The Journal of Business & Design, Dr. Dipak Jain, marketing expert and dean of the Kellogg School of Management, had this to say about the shortcomings of traditional research, “Buyers are liars. Ask people what channel they watch on TV and they will tell you PBS. But, in reality, 60% of the time they are watching World Wide Wrestling.“
Have you ever initiated any new programs or services based on what patients say they want, only to find out that their actual preferences run counter to their stated desires?
3. Finally, if conducted right, patient satisfaction surveys may highlight areas that need improvement. But they are not designed to provide solutions to those issues.
Based on the research by Zaltman and other marketing experts, asking your own customers to suggest new or better services is usually a futile effort. True innovation often comes from deep thinking and taking a different or new perspective on the services you provide. For example, the practice of ethnography the social science of observing people in their natural environments has become a powerful tool for businesses looking for new perspectives and innovative solutions. Observing your patients and how they interact with your caregivers will often provide far more insight into potential problems and possible solutions than patient satisfaction surveys can.
How often do you take a new, objective look at your services from the perspective of a patient?
These reasons don’t mean to imply that patient satisfaction surveys don’t provide value — they do. Patient satisfaction surveys are excellent for benchmarking progress within an organization, as well as comparing results to competitors and peers. But perhaps the name itself — patient satisfaction — helps best explain the shortcomings. In today’s market of rising consumerism and competition, your organization will find itself falling behind if all it seeks to measure or deliver is satisfaction. Today’s changing environment requires innovation to thrive, and the adoption of new and different approaches to delivering a superior patient experience.