At Show Me Your Stethoscope, we are concerned that Hospitals are going to please you to death. If you are a healthcare consumer or provide care for people, you will be affected by the following:

Medicare has refused full reimbursement to hospital organizations based on low patient satisfaction scores. While this may seem like a good idea to the layperson, those in healthcare know that high satisfaction scores do not necessarily translate to good patient outcomes. A very satisfied patient can be very dead in half an hour if their treatment is based on their preferences, and not the standard of care. You can do the research yourself, but studies have shown that this is the case. Safety Net hospitals who serve the poor and underinsured are more likely to have lower patient satisfaction scores than hospitals who serve the adequately insured and the higher earners. Is financially punishing these hospitals whose resources are already strained the best way to proceed? Would you prefer a 5-star hospital-hotel or a healthcare facility that is more concerned about your medical outcome than its soft drink selection?

Healthcare professionals are committed to your health and safety. We cannot guarantee that you will always be happy about it. The best Physicians, NP’s and PA’s are very busy. Do you truly care how ‘sweet’ she was to you or do you want the best medical outcome you can get? This does not mean that healthcare professionals should be rude, far from it! However, their minds need to be on solving medical problems, not what they can do to make you check the ‘extremely satisfied’ box. Nurses and support staff LOVE satisfied patients. However, I would like to post this excerpt from Alexandra Robbins’ article, adapted from her book:

Robbins also points to research that satisfied patients are also heavier consumers of care – and we all know by now that more care isn’t always better care, or necessary care. Worse, she wrote, “the most satisfied patients were significantly more likely to die in the next four years.”

At what point will interference with healthcare from Medicare be too much? Right now. At this point there is a 1% of revenue penalty to hospitals. This means that hospitals are required to spend the money to pay the Housekeepers, Dietary Employees, Admitting Clerks, Allied Healthcare professionals, EMT’s, Paramedics. CNA’s, PCT’s, Nurses, NP’s, PA’s and hospital employed physicians involved in your care with no guarantee of the reimbursement they will receive. In 2017, 2% of reimbursement will be based on patient satisfaction scores. Guess where that money will come from? We still NEED the professionals that provided your care, but they will not receive raises or decent benefits to make up for the shortfall. So, essentially the wonderful nurse who provided your care and held your hand when you were afraid will not get a raise because you didn’t check ‘extremely satisfied’ on a form.

So, we ask you to tell the House of Representatives and the Senate that we will not stand for this. Medicare’s reimbursements were low prior to this policy going into effect. Sign today and make a difference in the quality of healthcare for you and your family.