Why equipment plays a critical role in patient satisfaction and outcomes.
In medical equipment sales, accuracy, durability, ease of use, financing and revenue potential must be addressed in the sales process. But there’s another subject for discussion with prospects: How will patients experience the treatment they receive from the clinician using your equipment? It’s an important point, and one your customers are thinking about. The federal Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys measure it every day, and reimbursement depends in part on the results.
Patient experience is not the same as patient satisfaction. Rather than focusing on amenities, surveys such as CAHPS focus on how patients experienced or perceived key aspects of their care, including the quality of communication with their providers, the clarity of instructions they received, the overall concern by staff for their well-being, and the degree to which the medical team worked together to coordinate their care. The equipment they use can work in their favor.
Tony Awards
“Many years ago, we came to realize that the equipment itself is just one of the pillars for an effective point-of-care design that can facilitate a positive experience for both patient AND caregiver,” says Tom Schwieterman, M.D., MBA, chief medical officer and vice president of clinical affairs for Midmark. “Our role is not to provide the care itself, but rather to establish an effective ecosystem that facilitates and supports, empowering expert clinicians to achieve excellence in their care management.
“As an analogy, think of a Broadway show. Midmark would be the theater owner, not the show itself. Our role is not script, orchestra music or cast. However, we would design the seating, orchestra pit and stage, lighting, concessions and the means for staging between acts. To create the perfect setting for the production, we would need to know the storyline and setting intimately.
“Within the theater, we would ensure that all critical elements were received by the audience in their fullest extent and are enjoyed in a comfortable and engaging manner. We would design the theater seats to avoid any barriers to a view of the stage so the cast can develop intimacy with the audience.
“If these things are not done well, the show will ultimately fail no matter how well the cast performs a Tony award-winning story.”
The clinician/patient relationship
Equipment designed with the patient in mind can enhance patient experience, according to those with whom Repertoire spoke. Professional scales offer a case in point.
“Weight is an important vital sign in many treatment scenarios,” says Ken Harris, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Pelstar LLC/Health o meter Professional Scales. “And while scales are generally straightforward to use, many patients who interact with our products may be injured, weak, unstable, or simply uncomfortable sharing their weight with others.
“Scales that are easy to get on and off, have platforms sized to comfortably accommodate larger or unstable patients, and have scale-mounted handrails that can help steady patients during weighings can reduce or eliminate the stress and discomfort patients can feel. Additionally, placing the scale in an area with appropriate seclusion can reduce the discomfort patients may feel if they believe other people can see them getting weighed.
“Selecting a scale that is the appropriate size to accommodate patients is a critical first step to enhancing a patient’s experience,” he adds. “It’s important to keep in mind that scale size does not always correlate to the size of the patient. Older patients or patients who are unsteady will also benefit from larger scale platforms. Having a scale that can weigh patients in a wheelchair can eliminate the need and associated effort for a patient to get out of their chair to be weighed.”
Janis Dezso, vice president of sales, global distribution, for Symmetry Surgical, says any equipment can be intimidating to a patient. That’s why the company designs its electrosurgical generators and smoke evacuators to be as quiet as regulations will allow and aesthetically designed to blend into the physician’s office, she says. “They can either hang on the wall or be added to a cart that can be moved in and out of the office as needed.”
When presenting Symmetry Surgical equipment, sales reps can help their customers enhance the patient experience simply through good communication, says Dezso.
The company recommends that users of its equipment advise patients of any sounds the machine might make. “For example, when the unit is activated, it makes a beeping sound. Knowing this in advance prevents the patient from getting startled. Also, it is best to advise the patient that electrosurgery has a unique smell that some patients may not like. We recommend that a smoke evacuator be used to minimize the smoke plume and odor.”
Michael Suits, senior marketing specialist, physical assessment, for Baxter, says “a patient’s experience may be improved with the perception that their clinician is using the most advanced technologies available, but only if this equipment facilitates and enhances the clinician-patient relationship. When speaking with clinicians, we not only discuss the technical features of our products, but also how they can help improve efficiency and collaboration with both patients and colleagues, which are important considerations.
“Time is a major consideration for both busy patients and physicians, so medical equipment that helps improve efficiency provides significant value,” he says. He points out the Welch Allyn Connex Spot Monitor can capture a full set of vital signs in less than a minute, providing important data to the clinician that informs the rest of the exam.
“Patients also value transparency and may want to feel like partners in their own care,” says Suits. “Clinicians can use physical exam tools like the MacroView Plus Otoscope with iExaminer to make exams more interactive for patients by showing them actual digital images of the ear, versus having to describe what they see verbally or in the electronic medical record. This digital technology has the added benefit of enabling clinicians to upload images and share them with colleagues or specialists, potentially saving the patient time and money by avoiding an unnecessary visit to a specialist or preventing unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics.”
Distributors shouldn’t miss the opportunity to demonstrate to clinicians how digital capabilities can enhance their practice, he adds. “Communication with digital images – and being able to send them directly to the EMR and other providers – is a significant step forward in physical exams. In addition, it has been demonstrated that a single digital image of the tympanic membrane obtained by a smartphone-enabled otoscope resulted in correct diagnosis of 96% normal tympanic membranes and 100% abnormal tympanic membranes. This provides assurance that quality care is being delivered to patients, likely resulting in improved patient and clinician experience.”
The bigger picture
By itself, equipment may not drive a good patient experience, but it can establish the foundation for one, says
Dr. Schwieterman. Sales reps can convert customer questions about a piece of equipment into a larger story about how an exam room can help create an optimized experience for both the patient and provider.
“As a physician, I know my patients at the point of care are carefully observing all that is occurring. This is especially true with COVID, now that the patient population is more educated on infectious disease. Patients observe not only how the care team is engaging with them and each other, but also whether the room is safe and clean, if they can hear the conversation in the room next door, and how comfortable they are in the exam room. They are watching how a clinician takes their blood pressure, whether the care team is washing their hands, and how much attention to detail is occurring. In essence, the care team is ALWAYS on stage, and that experience is evaluated on how patients feel about the care they receive.
“In addition to the equipment, there needs to be design elements that empower care teams to establish an intimate and engaging setting for care. This means ensuring that equipment can be positioned properly at the point of care, eye contact maintained (e.g., with the use of mobile cart technology), data flows automated, provider responsibilities for clicks and menu selections minimized, and finally, a comfortable, quiet, and clean room.”
A properly designed exam room can empower clinical performance and clinical precision, he adds. For example, “The Midmark BetterBP® initiative focuses on designing a point-of-care solution that not only is experienced well, but also helps ensure provider teams are following proper protocols. With the use of our 626 Barrier-Free® Examination Chair to achieve proper positioning for blood pressure measurement, our IQvitals® ZoneTM solution to accurately assess and average the readings, and our IQmanager® software to seamlessly import data into the EMR, we are enabling better care,” he says.
“Patients receiving care within this ecosystem experience their care team’s attention to every detail and gain confidence in the diagnosis and care planning.”
But focusing on patient experience is NOT to minimize the technical quality of the equipment being sold, says Dr. Schwieterman. “I feel it is a mistake for reps to silo the experience and technical quality in their pitch to customers. You absolutely need both to drive optimized patient experiences. Said another way, experience scores will be capped at a suboptimal level if the technical aspects are poor. Patients are aware of technical quality when they receive care, and it is highly unlikely they will disregard it in their experiential rating.”
Says Ken Harris, “In today’s hyper-competitive markets, patients have many healthcare options to choose from. How a treatment facility fits a patient’s expectations will have a meaningful effect on their perceptions and, in turn, their overall experience. Working with a local rep and a manufacturer that you trust can help practices ensure the equipment they purchase is appropriate for their facility and patients’ needs. It also creates a partnership that facilitates acquiring the most reliable equipment and the support needed to keep the equipment functioning well into the future.