Did you know that among high-developed countries, the U.S. ranks last in health system performance while spending the most per capita on healthcare?! Here are some key metrics and analysis that were made to reveal the reasons why patients are unhappy with the provided service!

1. www.thedoctorsanswer.com
Why Do Patients
Complain?
10 Common Patient Complaints and Grievances
with Hospitals, as Confirmed by Statistics.

2. What makes patients lose their cool?
In a highly competitive industry such as healthcare, hospitals must go the extra
mile to attract and retain patients. However, regardless of the efforts to deliver
high quality services, no medical facility is fully immune to errors and compla-
ints. What sets top-performing hospitals apart in this respect is how they
handle patient grievances once they happen.
Complaints may be a valuable source of information for medical organizations.
Patients often capture errors and omissions that would be easy to overlook
otherwise.
By conducting a detailed analysis of the sources of patient dissatisfaction, ho-
spitals have a chance to identify the greatest challenges facing their organiza-
tion and implement remedial actions. Investigating patient complaints allows
them to raise the bar for patient comfort and safety, and deliver patient-cen-
tric, high quality care.
To help hospitals pin down areas for improvement, we have collected ten
issues with hospitals that are frequently reported by dissatisfied patients.
2

3. Among high-developed
countries,
the U.S. ranks last in health system
performance, while spending the most
per capita on healthcare.
Source: The Commonwealth Fund

4. Hospital Noise
Hospitals are increasingly noisy places, so it’s hardly surprising that noise pol-
lution is one of the top grievances among patients. The issue has multiple so-
urces, from office and medical equipment, bed alarms, staff announcements,
to conversations, housekeeping, and opening and closing doors.
High noise levels not only cause annoyance to patients and personnel but also
have numerous adverse effects:
Sleep deprivation and fatigue among patients
Impaired communication
Negative impact on staff’s performance
Lower quality of treatment
Reduced recovery rate
4

5. Bedside alarms
go off 133 times per day
Source: US News

6. 6
Dirty Rooms
In the healthcare context, a clean and healthy environment constitutes a criti-
cal quality factor. Hospital cleanliness is essential for infection prevention and
control, yet, sadly, numerous patients complain about bacteria-ridden heal-
thcare facilities.
Maintaining high standards of hygiene in hospitals requires a systemic appro-
ach; however, every employee should participate in the process and make an
effort to keep hospital rooms and equipment clean and tidy. All hospital per-
sonnel should be advised to disinfect their hands before and after entering a
room and touching a patient, dry their hands thoroughly after every wash, and
avoid touching germ-infested objects and surfaces such as patients’ property,
call buttons, linens, or hospital beds.

7. 22% of hospital floor
sites are
positive for MRSA, 33% for VRE,
and 72% for C. difficile
Source: Very Well Health

8. Ineffective Scheduling
Appointment-making has a direct impact on hospital operations and revenue;
missed appointments cost US taxpayers $150B every year. If patients find ho-
spital scheduling systems confusing, cancellations and delays abound. As inef-
fective scheduling produces deleterious effects to any medical organization,
enhancing appointment systems and eliminating hostile schedules become a
priority for healthcare managers.
There are numerous strategies to minimize disruptions in the patient flow and
improve patient experience related to appointment-taking. The first step is to
identify peaks and valleys and working towards their mitigation. Solutions such
as patient portals, booking apps, or online appointment services help hospitals
reduce the number of late arrivals and no-shows, and facilitate the process for
patients.
8

9. 65% of patients say
they face challenges when trying to engage
with their healthcare providers
Source: Healthcare Innovation

10. Long Wait Times
This common complaint is somewhat related to the previous one. Patients
usually expect immediate service and their frustration spikes when they’re
made to wait at any point of interaction with a medical facility; whether on the
phone, at the front desk, or in the examination office.
However, in a large number of cases, patients are to blame for extended wait
times. They don’t show up, cancel visits at short notice, or arrive late. Research
supports that; the mean unpunctuality rate is between 20-23 minutes (Source:
BMJ). There are various ways to keep patients more disciplined and shorten
queues, such as no-show fees, pre-registration systems, and call answering
services. By combining these tools, hospitals can remove bottlenecks, lessen
staff workload, and reduce he overall wait times.
10

11. Over 78% of patients
spend
2 h or less on the queue before being
seen by a doctor
Source: NBCI

12. Short Visits
Most physicians schedule patients at 15-minute intervals. In practice, many
visits last even shorter. Patients are vocal about doctors’ increasing tendency
to reduce face time and rush through appointments. They report that physi-
cians fail to interact with them in a meaningful way, as their attention is diver-
ted to paperwork, electronic health records, and other distractions such as
ringing phone or a knock on the door.
Short visits negatively affect the patient-doctor relationship, which is a crucial
component of high-quality healthcare. Most people coming to a doctor
demand to be heard and respected; when physicians don’t deliver on this
expectation, patients are very likely to file a complaint.
12

13. Just 11% of patients say
they have enough time with their doctors
Source: Healthcare Dive

14. Lack of Privacy
Respect for privacy and confidentiality is one of the fundamental patient’s
rights. Healthcare workers are bound to keep all patient information safe and
confidential, and a number of measures, including HIPAA regulations, are insti-
gated to enforce that obligation.
Nevertheless, many hospitals still fail to deliver on that aspect, and commit the
following privacy breaches:
They make patients speak about their intimate problems to receptionists.
They don’t provide soundproofing in examination rooms.
They use corridors to treat patients due to overcrowding.
They mishandle patients’ documentation, disclosing names and other details
to unauthorized parties.
14

15. 2018 saw over 350
healthcare
data breaches reported, resulting in the exposure
of 13,020,821 healthcare records
Source: HIPAA Journal

16. Poor Communication
A positive interaction between a patient and a doctor is one of the chief deter-
minants of hospital quality services. Communication failures, on the other
hand, may lead to serious negative consequences, including poor handovers,
treatment errors, health deterioration, and in extreme cases - patient death.
It’s estimated that inadequate communication is the cause of 30% of malprac-
tice cases in hospitals. (source)
Despite this, efficient patient-doctor communication still remains a challenge
for many facilities. Patients complain about doctors being insensitive, lacking
empathy, and using highly-specialized terminology, which is confusing. But the
interaction between patients and their doctors is not the only one line of com-
munication that leaves a lot to be desired.
For numerous reasons, physicians and hospitals don’t talk to each other, which
is hugely detrimental for the medical progress of their patients.
16

17. Ca. 80% of serious medical
errors
involve miscommunication between
providers at handoffs
Source: Joint Commission

18. No Sense of Accountability
Getting patients involved in their treatment increases the rate of recovery and
brings down readmission. Patients seem to recognize this, as 89% want to
manage their own healthcare (source).
Providing them with that opportunity yields efficiency savings and improves pa-
tient satisfaction. Therefore, it is imperative for hospitals to make facilities
more accessible by:
18
Giving patients the sense of ownership over their health through shared decision-making
Providing easy access to health records
Streamlining online prescription renewals
Increasing medication adherence using text message reminders
Offering 24/7 access to healthcare services
Facilitating follow-up calls to reduce relapse and readmission

19. Patients who are
highly-engaged
in their health see 50% fewer ED visits
Source: Medical Economics

20. Paperwork
Medical records are an essential component of any treatment as they allow to
meticulously track the patient’s medical history and facilitate inter-provider
communication. However, few issues vex patients as much as ever-increasing
paperwork to be filled by themselves and their doctors.
Excessive documentation detracts doctors from face-to-face contact with
their patients. 92% of physicians report that clinical documentation duties are
burdensome and take too much time (source). This pertains to both, traditional
paper records, and electronic medical records, which were supposed to auto-
mate and streamline manual documentation.
To maintain a high quality of relevant records, it’s critical to train medical per-
sonnel in documentation-taking, periodically review the efficiency of the EMR
system, and implement consistent policies on creating, updating, and storing
health records organization-wide.
20

21. Physicians spend 49.2%
of their time on EHR and desk work
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine

22. Confusion over Billing
In 2017, 1.4 million Americans went overseas for medical care to save on treat-
ment. Such immense popularity of medical tourism can be partly attributed to
the fact that healthcare payment system in the US is extraordinarily complex.
Patients who don’t understand how much they need to fork out for a procedure
and where to seek reimbursement, won’t go into treatment at home for fear of
being overcharged.
Hospitals may decrease billing confusion and make patients feel comfortable
with medical payments in a number of ways. These include establishing a role
responsible for resolving payment and billing concerns, simplifying price lists,
educating patients about their rights for reimbursement, and providing auto-
mated, easily accessible methods of payment.
22

23. 74% of patients are
confused
by Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and medical bills
Source: Instamed

24. Step-by-step approach to patient
satisfaction
Receiving a complaint from a patient can be an extremely stressful experience.
That’s why many hospitals consider negative feedback as necessary evil and
wish it never happened. The fact is that even the best healthcare services pro-
vider face disgruntled patients at times.
People have different expectations and it’s impossible to always accommodate
all of them. However, complaints should be seen as an opportunity to improve
rather than a reason to become vexed.
By thorough investigation of patients’ complaints, hospitals can grow a better
understanding of the root of the problem, improve their services, and prevent
similar occurrences in the future.
While it’s not easy to diffuse patient frustration, developing an organized, stra-
tegic approach to complaints will allow hospitals to deal with patient discon-
tent faster and more effectively.
24

25. How to handle patient complaints:
1 Listen to your patients.
2 Acknowledge their complaints.
3 Find out more about what caused their annoyance.
4 Apologize and explain what happened.
5 Propose mitigation measures and take action.
6 Draw conclusions to prevent the situation in the future.
25

26. Are you looking to improve
patient experience?
If so, we have a common goal.
Visit our website www.thedoctorsanswer.com
and learn how you can refine healthcare services,
reduce patient complaints, and increase revenue
with 24/7 medical call answering.