Effective complaint management in clinics and hospitals increases patient satisfaction and supports safety. Satisfied patients tend to return and recommend the medical centre.
I recently asked my sister, an experienced nurse who also trains nursing staff, how complaint management was organised at her hospital. “We've had that established for a long time. Quality management takes care of it.”
Great! How do you record complaints and manage the statements needed from doctors, departments and wards? “I fill in a complaint form.”
Which system do you use to record complaints? “We do it on paper and forward it to quality management.” Oh, I replied in surprise.
And how do you survey patient satisfaction? “The patient fills in a paper questionnaire.” How do you analyse that? “We receive statistics once a year, but I don't think they're complete. Given the number of cases, the figures don't seem plausible.”
I had to think about that. Paper-based complaint handling and no timely monitoring of service performance or patient experience were not what I expected. Is this an isolated case or common practice in hospitals?
Clinics also compete and depend on their reputation. Patients' experiences, although they apparently aren't called customers, spread extremely quickly.
Professional complaint management in clinics is possible
Professional complaint management, understood as an effective way to improve patient satisfaction, creates greater profitability.
In English-speaking countries, the term is “patient experience”. In Germany, complaints are often perceived as a nuisance. We should definitely change that.