At the AHA, experts who are working on the new Hospital Compare Web site feel a combination of public and private information will offer patients the best way to judge clinicians and hospitals. The site is a collaboration between the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services and the Hospital Quality Alliance (which includes the AHA, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the Association of American Medical Colleges).
Wade says this arena of competing online rating tools will probably get more confusing before it gets better. But that doesn’t mean we should abandon the process, he says, because it will change health care for the better. “This has already forced more transparency in the system,” he says.
Clinicians Need to Talk the Talk
Health care providers who excel in certain specialties will no longer be able to simply ignore their bedside manner. “Those guys will have to go drive a cab,” jokes Wade. Clinicians with the best communication skills will come out ahead in surveys and ratings.
Medical training program directors have realized that patient satisfaction is going to drive health care decisions more than ever before, so they are encouraging students to work on their bedside manner as much as their organic chemistry and diagnostic skills.
You can have all the fancy online tools in the world, Wade says, but there’s still no substitute for basic human contact. “The average person is going to be overwhelmed by all of the information that’s out there,” he adds. “The key is to have a provider you feel you can communicate with.”