8 Ways to Improve Patient Experience at Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Operational efficiency is foundational for any ambulatory surgery center (ASC). Patients have the best experiences with providers who have streamlined business procedures outside the operating room. Capsa Healthcare assists organizations with workflow optimization every day. ASC owners can improve their patient experience by refining their value-based care with strategies that work across healthcare environments.

Why Patient Experience Matters in ASCs

People don’t visit ASCs for recurring medical services, but providing high-quality care and retaining top-tier patient satisfaction scores is crucial. ASCs benefit from patient-focused improvement efforts in numerous ways.

Positive Outcomes Could Become More Likely

Medical teams often focus on things like patient throughput when improving their offices. While timely appointments and consultations are essential, patients may have a better time in comprehensively refined ASCs. Better planning, communication and empathetic care make people feel valued, leading to immediate improvements in satisfaction.

People who experience better physician-related care report having improved health and quality of life. The same research showed that they may not adhere to treatments necessary for recovery if they’re frustrated by their medical facilities. Less personalized care might result in poorer post-operative experiences.

Operational improvements to refine patient experiences are key to creating better health outcomes for anyone who schedules an appointment at your ASC. Adding more care to everyone’s interactions with staff members or surgical providers could be what people need to have better visits at your facility.

Referrals and Revenue May Increase

Sitting for a medical appointment requires vulnerability. People won’t appreciate feeling pushed through or sent home with care instructions without a conversation. If they don’t have good ASC experiences, they won’t refer their loved ones to that facility.

Enhancing patient journeys makes referrals more likely. Additional referrals increase revenue, which is crucial when revenue cycle management becomes a struggle between insurance reimbursements. As your ASC generates more earnings, your team can invest in resources to strengthen each person’s experience. Supplies like Capsa Healthcare’s FLX storage cabinets withstand high-traffic facilities and provide customized workflow adjustments so each team continues improving their patient care in the specific ways they need.

Your ASC Might Achieve Accreditations Faster

Care quality and patient satisfaction are key components in many ASC accreditation standards. If your business has a better reputation, gaining more accreditations could become easier. Your facility will retain its Medicare funding and potentially receive more federal cash flow without lapses in certification.

Patients may not know much about those rigorous reviews, but the certifications will stand out on your website. Someone choosing between ASCs may schedule their procedure at your facility because you have more accreditations than your competitors based on factors like your outstanding patient satisfaction scores.

8 Ways to Improve Patient Experience at Ambulatory Surgery Centers

When you’re ready to refine each patient’s experience at your ASC, discuss the best strategies for your office. Implementing one at a time will provide targeted results and guide your team toward the best solutions for your facility’s unique needs.

1. Optimize the Workflow and Scheduling

Care coordination starts when someone makes an appointment. People shouldn’t have to worry about improper scheduling of patients or healthcare providers when they need quick medical attention at an ASC. Software that streamlines scheduling and workflows across your facility could minimize care lapses or surgery delays.

Data analytics can also point out bottleneck issues regarding paperwork or financial processes for more targeted improvements. An updated program could suggest the best staff members to manage the documentation based on previous productivity ratings within the system. Users could also prompt suggestions regarding bottlenecks, like asking which electronic health record (EHR) workflows are currently most time-consuming for the team.

Some programs even monitor operating room efficiency. They track surgeries, cleaning times and how long it takes to set up equipment before recommending how to improve those estimates. Data analytics might minimize gaps between surgeries as well. Recommended scheduling updates could maximize room throughput, serving more patients faster. 

2. Upgrade Pre-Procedure Communication Standards

Improving clinical outcomes requires better patient communication before procedures. ASC teams can use digital tools to outline people’s scheduled surgeries and walk them through their recovery plans. The same software may send care reminders and instructions post-op, depending on which platform your facility integrates into its workflow.

People who experience better pre-procedure communication enjoy better health results due to the emotional and physical support. ASC staff should save time for personalized conversations before and after surgeries to provide a superior experience for anyone needing their services.

3. Make Patients More Comfortable

Physical comfort improvements make a substantial difference for people. If they sit in hard chairs, feel cold in your facility and wait in rooms without decorations, they won’t want to return for future care. Something as simple as investing in more cushioned waiting room chairs could improve your patient satisfaction scores.

Minor adjustments to what makes people feel uneasy demonstrate empathy-driven care, the foundation of improved patient experiences. Recurring post-op surveys might be necessary to understand the specific features needing comfort-focused upgrades in your facility.

4. Refine Staff Training Materials

Someone who clocks into work and pushes through their shift isn’t going to provide the same high-quality care as someone who looks forward to engaging with patients. Adequate employee training bridges that gap. You can hone staff engagement by offering quarterly training targeting burnout prevention, communication and problem-solving skills.

People who get healthcare services from engaged providers experience greater patient safety because facility staff members give their all. If your team doesn’t complete recurring training focused on patient-centric care skills, improving those materials could offer clients the top-quality service you want to provide.

5. Encourage Feedback From Everyone

Consider the patient journey map in your facility. When someone arrives, who do they speak with, and how long does it take to give them the healthcare services they need? What is their post-op experience like, and how does your team assist with their financial arrangements?

You may not have an accurate picture of each step along that journey if you’re not requesting feedback from everyone at your facility. Staff members at every level should feel free to submit comments regarding what does or doesn’t help their workflows. Patient feedback factors into this as well. Collecting and reviewing options provides a broad oversight into what could improve, preventing guesswork from driving your facility improvement approaches.

6. Invest in New Resources

The resources available at your ASC can make or break your patient satisfaction scores. A team managing clinical documentation by hand might finish their work, but another using artificial intelligence (AI) tools could improve each provider’s accuracy by capturing more data, auto-populating documents and reducing their risk of missing details to enhance their patient file accuracy.

Each ASC team should consider what tools they currently use and the efficacy of each resource. New software or hardware could add services like virtual post-op care or greater transparency for better patient communication. Others, like the Capsa Healthcare FLX storage cabinets, optimize workflow efficiency and save time for extended interpersonal conversations. If your selected upgrades directly relate to the fractures in your standard patient experiences, your investments will immediately boost satisfaction scores.

7. Get Proactive About Financial Concerns

Managing the financial outcomes of ASC services is a concern for many patients. Medical procedures and post-op appointments are costly, even for those with robust insurance coverage. They may submit higher satisfaction scores if their care team shows concern for their financial stressors from the start of their journey.

ASC teams can implement anxiety-reduction strategies for patients by being more upfront about billing. Discuss care fees after a consultation and outline payment options with a transparent software program or generated outline. Staffing in-house financial counselors may also transform a person’s experience with ASCs. Healthcare providers can move on to their next patients while the counselors discuss payment options with people who need additional planning assistance.

8. Emphasize the Importance of Patient Involvement

Patient education is crucial for anyone entering an ASC. They should know what procedure they’re undergoing, how it works and why it solves their medical needs. People can enjoy more care transparency if they also have post-op recovery guidance.

Greater patient engagement through educational conversations benefits everyone involved. People needing care have better health outcomes and higher satisfaction scores, while healthcare providers boost their productivity by empowering patients upfront. Everyone interacting with patients should prioritize their educational conversations, which may become easier with updated staff training materials.

Upcoming ASC Trends

Ambulatory surgery center leaders can anticipate upcoming industry trends to refine their workflows further. Adapting to the latest advancements gives patients and staff members better experiences with reliable long-term results.

AI-Focused Clinic Tools

Managing day cases results in extensive patient files. Collecting, organizing and sorting through that data takes valuable time away from each ASC’s ability to care for patients. AI tools are the latest trend in solving that dilemma.

Software with AI features can analyze patient records instantly. Providers can get details about someone’s pain management preferences or post-op recovery plan without clicking through extensive files. The platform may even provide conversational recommendations for specific needs, like suggesting factors to discuss with people during consultations based on their previous clinic experience.

Some AI tools are more patient-centric. People could ask an AI chatbot straightforward pre- or post-op questions so healthcare providers can continue working with those in need. Less demand on staff could reduce burnout and cultivate more employee satisfaction alongside patient experiences.

Post-Op Wearable Tech Standards

ASC teams might utilize wearable tech standards in the coming months. The resources could become part of patient care procedures, given how one in three Americans uses a wearable device to track their health metrics.

Post-op care instructions could include using smartwatches, rings or other wearable tools patients already own to gather more recovery data. They might watch their heart rate or oxygen levels to gauge their healing progress and report their findings to their primary care provider for more accurate guidance. ASC staff members who know how to use those tools and integrate them into post-op care plans could boost patient satisfaction scores while empowering people to use the resources they already have at home.

Value-Based Care Metrics

The best ASC providers refine their workflows around value-based care strategies. They make patients feel valued while meeting Medicare and private insurance funding reimbursement standards. Evolving tools can assist teams with refining their approach to value-based care by tracking their metrics in more detail.

Comprehensive analytics platforms with AI algorithms deliver feedback regarding how they recently reduced safety risks, refined treatment plants or predicted a patient’s preferences before surgeries. They also create seamless information exchanges for staff members. Healthcare providers can deliver coordinated treatment without miscommunication if they have tools chosen to match value-based metrics like more personalized patient care.

Fewer mistakes and happier patients could boost long-term revenue. The key is defining the values your ASC team will prioritize before selecting tools to track and reach those metrics. Potential values include reducing readmission rates, patient appointment lengths, or gaps between patient arrivals and procedures.

Future-Proofing Your Improvements

ASC team efforts to enhance patient experiences should withstand the test of time. Future-proof your efforts by keeping an open mind. Updating interoperable systems when new tools arrive, continuing feedback surveys and refining training materials as needed will keep your ASC as your region’s top provider. The longer your patient satisfaction rates remain high, the more community trust you’ll build. People will choose your ASC services over competitors and hospitals because you’ll prove that you’re committed to the best service.

Make Your ASC the Best in Your Region

There are numerous ways to improve patient experience at ambulatory surgery centers. Consider your team’s strengths and growth paths to pinpoint the best strategies to get higher satisfaction scores. If you’re unsure which office improvements would refine your workflows, contact the Capsa Healthcare team for a consultation. Once you submit your request form, an expert will be in touch to discuss improving your patient-centric care with tools that positively impact clinical effectiveness.