Healthcare service Archives - Page 2 of 2

A culture of compassion

Following a number of high profile reports into the standards of care within the NHS the Prime Minister has announced a package of measures which are aimed at raising the standard of care provided by health services. Alongside measures such as improved training for dementia carers and a defined career pathway for care assistants comes a vision for strengthening district nursing.

The attention grabbing element of this new package is the introduction of a “friends and family” test which will encourage patients to report back on hospitals. Designed to be in place from April 2013 the test will then be gradually rolled out over the rest of the health service.

The measures have been broadly welcomed by health bodies with the NHS Confederation chief executive, Mike Farrar, saying that “we have got to ensure that a culture of compassion is running through the veins of every place that provides care, no ifs, no buts and no exceptions.” But whilst greater training and a renewed emphasis on care and compassion is a major step forward, there still remains the twin challenge of providing patient care whilst coping with the day to day paper work and interruptions.

A survey of social care workers in 2012 revealed that just 15% of time was spent in face to face meetings with clients with the rest of the time taken up with paperwork, phone calls, travelling and other meetings. If that figure were to be reflected across the health sector then there is precious little time available for patient care.

This time challenge is one which is not simply confined to those working in the NHS, but is also a problem for those providing other health services such as physiotherapy and osteopathy. For them, every minute spent on paperwork and answering calls is a non-earning minute which is spent away from patient care. This is where the services of a virtual receptionist can make a difference. With calls being diverted to a virtual receptionist the clinician can concentrate on providing treatments.

With diary management and patient records also being taken care of, the percentage of time spent on patient care can soar. More time means the ability to provide full treatments to more patients; it means less of the “next please” and more holistic treatment of the person not just the symptoms. In short more time means that clinicians can step up to the culture of compassion demanded and in the process help to take health services to the next level.

Telephone back up

The Suffolk coroner, Peter Dean, is writing to the NHS Norfolk and Waveney primary care trust to emphasise the importance of having a telephone back-up system in place. The correspondence arose following an inquest over the death of a patient whose family had difficulty contacting their local GP due to a telephone line failure.

Whilst the lack of phone contact was not deemed to have contributed to the patient’s death, the coroner did highlight the importance of proper plans being in place to cover telephone outages. In this particular instance apparently the phone lines were out of action for over 24 hours with calls being diverted to a single mobile.

The coroner’s observations on the importance of telephone answering could equally be applied to any health practitioner. Calls to make appointments, to query symptoms or to ask for advice are all vitally important to current and prospective patients and if they are unanswered then either the patient’s problem can escalate or they may simply go elsewhere. For example patients may choose to visit A&E if the GP is unavailable or may go to another chiropractor if their first choice doesn’t answer the phone.

So the problem of maintaining an open telephone line is not just confined to times when phone systems develop a fault. But for many health practitioners this poses a dilemma with the choice being between interrupting a patient consultation and not answering the phone call. The answer is to use the services of a virtual receptionist.

Virtual receptionist services can answer calls, make appointments and even screen unwanted sales calls. Available on a full time or as needed basis the virtual receptionist service means that calls need never go unanswered again. With added extras such as diary management, appointment reminders and patient records management the virtual receptionist helps to maximise patient treatment time without compromising service standards.

Because virtual receptionists work via the internet, even if the health practitioner’s own telephone line goes down the receptionist can take over, receiving calls and making appointments which the practitioner can view on line.

Following the phone failure incident last year the health centre concerned has upgraded its phone services with a view to avoiding repeat problems. But the story is a lesson for all those who provide health services on the importance of ensuring a back-up plan is in place before it is too late.

Fit for the future?

The 2012 Hospital guide from Dr Foster makes very interesting reading. The headline statistics about hospital occupancy rates alone paints a picture of an NHS which is full to bursting. Against an ideal occupancy rate of 85%, the report shows that for 48 weeks a year most hospital trusts have a bed occupancy rate in excess of 90%.

This not only puts pressure on trust staff on a day to day basis, high occupancy levels mean that when a crisis hits there is little spare capacity to meet it. So, the current Norovirus outbreak which according to the HPA is already 72% up on last year is bad news indeed.

Unfortunately for NHS managers the Dr Foster report highlights one major bed blocker that could easily be avoided. Apparently 29% of beds are taken up by “patients whose admission might have been avoided if their care was better managed.” This includes patients who are readmitted shortly after discharge, patients who would have been better treated in the community and patients who could have been seen as day cases.

The report does conclude that efficient hospitals can deliver good quality care but that areas such as missed hospital appointments, unnecessary admissions, a lack of weekend care and keeping patients in too long (or conversely discharging them too soon) all need addressing. The report also highlights the number of follow up appointments which could easily have been replaced by a quick phone call or visit to a GP.

When looking at outpatient appointments the report also says that “both primary and secondary care providers can take measures to improve the proportion of patients who attend hospital outpatient appointments.” We have previously highlighted ways in which some providers are taking steps to address this issue, using simple methods such as sending appointment reminders by phone or text.

Patients failing to show up for appointments is an issue for everyone working in the healthcare field. For health practitioners who charge their patients direct, a no-show not only prevents another patient from being treated, it also costs the practitioner in lost revenue. That is one reason why an appointment reminder service can pay for itself in reducing no-shows and keeping treatment rates high. Allied to a virtual receptionist service which can take calls, make appointments and even manage patient records, a health practitioner can concentrate on treating the maximum number of patients and providing good quality care.

Time to stop sitting around

A study from Leicester and Loughborough Universities has shown that sitting still for long periods of time can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease and death. Whilst the trigger limit varies from person to person, those who sit for the longest are at greatest risk, with the strongest association being between sitting still and diabetes.

Dr Emma Wilmot who led the study said that “people convince themselves they are living a healthy lifestyle, doing their 30 minutes of exercise a day. But they need to think about the other 23.5 hours.” Suggestions to redress the balance include conducting standing meetings, walking at lunch time and typing whilst standing up.

There will be those working in some health fields who will greet the study with a wry smile. Health practitioners working in occupations such as physiotherapy or who offer beauty treatments can find themselves standing for long periods and so would welcome the chance to sit down at the end of a busy day. However, for them, the benefits of moving around during the day can be outweighed by the stress of having to catch up at the end of a day; with paperwork and telephone calls taking up time which would be better spent on leisure.

Those who are caught in this trap may well find that using the services of a virtual assistant can enable them to relax at the end of the day, rather than spend several hours on paperwork. Sometimes thought of as simply providing a telephone answering service, virtual assistants in fact do so much more. For example, taking advantage of diary management and patient records services means that patient notes will be organised and available at the touch of a button, appointment reminders and invoices sent out and the diary kept up to date.

This means that rather than turning round at the end of a day to remind clients of upcoming appointments , search out patient records for the next day and send out invoices, all the health practitioner needs to do is glance at their diary and then go home to a well earned rest. Add in the fact that whilst the health practitioner is working the virtual assistant is answering calls and filling up their diary and the overall effect is to reduce no shows and banish non-earning blank times during the day.

So whether the health practitioner is on their feet all day or not, using a virtual assistant service at least means the end of sitting around waiting for patients to show, and paperwork free evenings.

Prevention is better than cure

A disturbing report in The Lancet reveals that during the swine flu pandemic of 2009, preventative attitudes in the UK fell far short of those in countries such as Mexico, Argentina, Japan or America. For example whilst 89% of Argentineans washed their hands or used sanitizer more regularly during the outbreak, only 53% of Britons did the same.

A similar pattern was seen in respect of covering up coughs and sneezes and avoiding hugging or kissing friends. The conclusion from the research is that Britons are less likely to adopt protective measures than people elsewhere. This has implications in respect of the way in which information on disease is disseminated.

In response to the belief that good hygiene habits are best instilled in the young, Global Handwashing Day on October 15^th will take place as the centre piece of a week of worldwide hygiene-based activities. Top of the agenda is an attempt to set a world record with schools across the UK all taking part in a hygiene lesson at 10am.

Of course, hygiene is not just confined to schools and the public at large. Health practitioners know only too well that hygienic practices form an essential ingredient of the customer experience. Whether treating a client for back pain, providing a beauty treatment or simply providing a consultation; if the ambience and surroundings are wrong then the treatment will suffer.

One of the key ingredients to providing a good client experience is to give the client the surety that your attention is solely focused on them. This means taking steps to ensure that consultations aren’t interrupted by telephone calls or other distractions. Using a virtual receptionist service means that calls are answered and appointments booked by the receptionist service without the need to interrupt treatments to answer the phone.

With a handy always on view diary system the health practitioner can see appointments at a glance and keep control of their day whilst maximising treatment times. Add in appointment reminders and invoicing and even more time can be spent on treating the patient.

In a time when effective diary management can make or break a health practice, using the services of a virtual receptionist can help to prevent no-shows and minimise empty hours. Working alongside the health practice, the virtual receptionist helps to ensure the client experience is a pleasant one and that is the first step on the way to an effective cure.

Scoring Service Levels

Following a nationwide GP Patient Survey in 2011, users of the NHS Choices website are now able to compare the service provided by differing GP Practices. Underlying data measures a range of factors to produce an overall GP Practice score out of 10.

The Department of Health has responded to BMA fears that the scores fail to take account of challenges faced by individual practices or areas by confirming that this will be considered when the data is published. For patients, the main benefit of the data will be to enable them to compare GP performance within their immediate location and therefore choose a GP Practice which meets their needs.

For those interested in delving deeper into the statistics, the overall score out of ten is broken down into varying areas including the levels of service provided as well as clinical experiences. This broad approach recognises the growing swell of opinion that good levels of health care start with the experience patients have when trying to contact the healthcare practice and make an appointment. Indeed, Patients Association chief executive, Katherine Murphy, told the BBC that the Patients Association helpline “is seeing a trend of increasing complaints about GPs, covering a number of areas, including difficulties obtaining an appointment, complaints about behaviour of reception staff and other factors that affect their overall experience.”

Of course GP practices don’t have a monopoly on the need to constantly juggle clinical and administration time. Other health professionals such as chiropractors and osteopaths also have to manage the twin demands of being easily contactable whilst maximising the time given to treatments.

One answer to this dilemma is the use of a virtual receptionist service. With telephone answering and diary management outsourced to trained health receptionists; clinicians need not worry about receiving a low score for contactability or professional image. Add in features such as appointment reminders, invoicing and managing patient records and health professionals can concentrate on providing the high level of service that their patients require.

The use of a virtual receptionist service also brings a revenue benefit. With ease of contact comes a fuller diary and with appointment reminders comes a reduction in no-shows. This helps to increase income at a cost which can be as little as the equivalent of one new client each month. Whilst this latest NHS scoring initiative is confined to GP Practices, other health professionals can learn from the GP experience. Using a virtual receptionist service may just be the step change needed to improve service levels alongside revenue and patient care.

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Tag: Healthcare service