Benchmarking patient relations within ambulatory care: lessons from a high-risk pregnancy program

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Patient Experience Research
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Background:

• Ambulatory care providers strive to balance high-quality, low-cost care with accessibility.
• Patient satisfaction is directly linked to meeting these demanding service benchmarks.
• Understanding barriers to patient relations benchmarking is crucial for healthcare organizations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify barriers to benchmarking patient relations in ambulatory care.
• To propose strategies for enhancing patient relations via internal benchmarking.
• To illustrate the benefits of internal performance thresholds using a case study.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of barriers to patient relations benchmarking.
• Development of strategies for internal benchmarking in ambulatory care.
• Case study analysis of programmatic benchmarking at Lovelace Health System, including the High Risk Pregnancy Program.

Main Results:

• Internal benchmarking can drive service innovation and performance emphasis in ambulatory care.
• Establishing internal performance thresholds guides service delivery and improves patient relations.
• The Lovelace Health System case study demonstrates the tangible benefits of benchmarking patient relations.

Conclusions:

• Internal benchmarking is a valuable strategy for improving patient relations in ambulatory care settings.
• Addressing barriers to benchmarking can lead to enhanced patient satisfaction and service quality.
• The findings have implications for optimizing patient relations across diverse ambulatory care environments.