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5 Ways A Discharge Folder Can Help Improve Your Hospital's Reputation

Posted by Chris Higgins on Mon, Jul 21, 2014 @ 08:00 AM

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Reputation matters in healthcare, now more than ever, not only for attracting new patients but also for maintaining Medicare reimbursements.

Today, the healthcare market is shifting rapidly. As Internet-enabled consumers become more comfortable researching health matters, they're increasingly treating health care like any other major purchase. Consumer ratings and review forums are becoming as important to driving revenue in health care as they are in consumer goods. In addition since the introduction in 2006, the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS, or "H-Caps") this standardized survey has become the primary method of assessing the quality of care being provided.

Maintaining a reputation as a quality healthcare provider is critical in today’s highly competitive market. One of the simplest ways to accomplish this is to provide a good patient discharge folder that helps to ensure patients follow the correct instructions and stay healthy once they leave the hospital.

Five Great Reasons To Invest In Custom Discharge Folders

Improved HCAHPS Scores

Possibly first and foremost: Better discharge folders, with complete information, lead directly to better post-care scoring. Communication and information quality are major influences on patients' impressions on surveys. These, in turn, go onto public websites that people use to choose a facility. More importantly HCAHPS scores are directly tied to your Medicare reimbursements. A hospital's annual payment update can be reduced by up to 2% for failing to meet HCAHPS goals.

Reduced Re-Admissions

Medicare reports that preventable hospital readmissions cost in excess of 17 Billion dollars annually. Penalties and fines to hospitals with excessive readmission rates approached 300 million dollars last year with the average fine over $100,000. Clearly this is an expensive and large problem.  If a hospital can prevent one readmission using a simple discharge folder then they’re already saving money.

Improve Patient Communication

Poor communication has been shown to cause unnecessary readmissions but is also a critical driver in how the patient feels about the quality of care they receive.

A well designed discharge folder improves patient communication by keeping all critical discharge information in one place, and organizing it in an easy to understand manner. Features such as a Velcro closure, business card sleeves, expansion capability, durable construction, and custom tabs allows the discharge folder to become a portable records organizer the patient can carry with them to all necessary follow up appointments.

hospital discharge folders 56Build Clinic Partnerships

Good discharge folders full of pertinent information can increase your standing among clinics in the area, especially if you already share referrals with them. Try adding information on your partner clinics to your own discharge folders. Sending them more business will likely inspire more tit-for-tat referrals in turn.

Create an effective roadmap to recovery.

One of the biggest challenges a patient faces upon leaving the hospital is ensuring the recovery continues by following the correct instructions often for weeks or even months after discharge.

An effective discharge folder creates a roadmap for recovery by providing each patient with a detailed discharge plan that will provide the best chance for a quick and complete recovery.

When combined with an effective pre-discharge consultation, this creates an informed and empowered patient who already has everything they need to know. This doesn't just reduce readmissions - it also potentially reduces extraneous consultations and clinic visits.

In today’s highly competitive and regulated market place hospitals constantly need to improve their reputation and brand in the marketplace. With hospital stays becoming shorter and shorter the discharge process and after care are more and more important factors in the overall outcome for each and every patient. A simple discharge folder with a well laid out discharge plan can make a big difference in the final outcome and the way a patient feels about the care he or she received in the hospital.

dataguide 3 ways discharge folders help reduce hospital readmissions

Topics: discharge folders, hospital discharge folders, custom discharge folders