Annually, we contact by telephone, thousands of EMS patients who were recently treated and transported, getting first hand feedback of the care provided. The purpose, to measure EMS patient satisfaction with the 911 pre-arrival instructions.
EMS Perception Begins With 911 – After years of patient interviews and analysis of 911 patient satisfaction results, we have identified critical patterns every EMS leader should be aware of, regardless of whether or not they are directly responsible for providing pre-arrival instructions. Below are some of our findings.
Variation Among 911 Dispatch Centers – We always see high levels of satisfaction with 911 pre-arrival instructions, but we see significant variation, as much as 50% variation, among providers in their patient engagement (top box) results, or the percent who rate the instructions very satisfied.
911 Vs. Patient Care Satisfaction – Patients consistently report lower satisfaction and engagement (% very satisfied) results when compared to EMS response and care provided. We have seen as much as 40% lower 911 pre-arrival engagement results.
Variation Among Patients – Most organizations fail to recognize how important patient demographics are to making dramatic performance improvements. We see significant variation in 911 patient engagement based upon the patients’ age, gender, medical condition, and time of the 911 call.
The Largest Variation…. Where The Patient Lives – Shock and dis-belief are what I frequently hear when clients learn the largest variation, by far, is based upon where the patient lives. This is consistent with EMS patient satisfaction and engagement result findings – where the patient lives is the biggest variable in EMS patient engagement results. Not proactively addressing the variation(s), can cause the gap to continue to grow, become public, or to become political. The good news, it’s so easy to improve within just a few months.
If you have questions about our findings or would like take advantage of our free one month EMS patient satisfaction survey which includes 911 patient satisfaction, CLICK HERE.