An analysis of patient comments in the first two months of 2021 shows a trend in patients seeking information on how to schedule a COVID vaccine. Compared to the last two months of 2020, there has been a 301% increase in the mention of vaccines in free text patient comments. A limited vaccine supply has caused distribution challenges and has left many vulnerable patients struggling to understand their next steps.
In December, SurveyVitals made a vaccine-specific question available as a part of the national
COVID question set. Of the 20,000 patients who have responded to the question
When available, will you get the COVID-19 vaccine?, 80.41% said “yes.” Your patients are likely to view you as a resource in helping them to schedule their vaccines. Patient comments such as “I need a vaccine! Where can I go?” and “I would like information on how I can get my vaccine” are growing in frequency on patient experience surveys.
Whether or not your practice is administering the COVID vaccine to patients, it may be a good idea to have information and resources available to address questions about getting the vaccine. Here are some best practices for supporting your patients during this time.
- Ensure all staff understands current eligibility criteria and vaccine supply in your state. Have a system in place to educate all staff on any changes in these criteria.
- If your practice is administering the vaccine, make scheduling instructions available to patients. Ensure patients are aware of any proof of eligibility that is required in order to receive the vaccine. If patients schedule their vaccines through a patient portal, provide instructions on how to sign up and log in.
- If your practice is not administering the vaccine, provide resources to external information where they can learn more. These may include links to state and health district websites, or any local phones lines that have been set up for vaccine questions.
- Follow up on patient questions. If the patient reaches out with questions related to vaccine scheduling or eligibility, provide any information and resources you can–even if you are not able to schedule a vaccine for that patient.
- Provide consistent information. Create scripts, handouts, or response templates for discussing vaccine scheduling and availability with patients. This ensures that all staff communicate the same information and reduces the risk of causing confusion.
- Include information on your website and have resources available for patients at your practice for better visibility.
Show empathy to patients who are experiencing challenges with getting their vaccines. Your concern and willingness to help may positively influence patient perceptions surrounding access and confidence and trust within the community.
Utilize your comment keyword search to find out if vaccine questions are trending among your patient population. Enabling alerts and the Contact Me feature can bring these concerns to your attention promptly so you can act quickly to help your patients.
SurveyVitals makes it easy to capture patient feedback, and with real-time, actionable insights understand your patient experience.
Schedule a demo to learn more.
Hope McCain March 17th, 2021 Categories: Best Practices, COVID-19, featured, Patient Experience
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A common concern expressed by patients is the communication of test results. Many medical practices have turned to patient portals to alleviate these concerns. Patient portals are now responsible for communicating with many of the 1-2 million patients being tested for COVID-19 every day in the US. The patient portal can be a great tool when it is used with the patients’ best interests in mind.
Using our comment analysis tools, we identified the most common concerns expressed by patients in regards to portal test results. Here are the biggest challenges and best practices to maximize the benefits of communicating test results to patients.
Patients don’t know how to use the portal
Your patients may not know how to access or log into your patient portal, or they may not know how to navigate it to find their test results. At the time of the visit, it’s important to provide the patient with clear, detailed instructions for accessing and using the portal.
If feasible, consider inviting the patient to set up their portal account during their visit so you can assist with any questions that arise. Offering instruction cards or flyers might aid in suggesting portal account setup to your patients.
Expectations are not met
It’s important to set and meet expectations when it comes to communicating test results via the patient portal.
First, ensure your patient knows their test results will be uploaded to the portal. If the patient assumes they will be receiving a phone call, they may not think to check online.
Next, give the patient a realistic timeframe for uploading their results. A common complaint from patients in regards to online test results is that they are not uploaded as promptly as they had expected.
A recent survey found that viewing test results is among the top reasons patients utilize the portal in the first place. When the patient doesn’t see their test results online within an expected timeframe, this could lower their confidence in the reliability of the patient portal.
Finally, be consistent when uploading test results to the portal. If the patient finds their test results on the portal in some instances and not others, they may discontinue use of the portal for this purpose altogether.
The portal is your only method of communication
The portal is a great tool for communicating test results in a more timely manner. It is possible the patient will need help interpreting the results or will have questions about next steps and treatment. It’s important to follow up with the patient verbally or to provide clear next steps and information about who they can reach out to with questions.
If you are communicating test results via a portal, take the time to understand what is working and what isn’t. Run a report with the Report Builder in your SurveyVitals portal and search the comments for terms such as ‘portal’ or ‘test results’ to gather key patient insights. You can also add addendum questions to your surveys for further insights; reach out to your Client Success Manager for more information.
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Hope McCain February 1st, 2021 Categories: Best Practices, COVID-19, Outpatient Practice, Patient Experience
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Improvement,
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Patient Satisfaction,
quality improvement,
sentiment analysis,
test results
Trend: Patients seeking resources on scheduling COVID-19 vaccine in satisfaction surveys
Hope McCain March 17th, 2021 Categories: Best Practices, COVID-19, featured, Patient Experience
Tags: best practices, comment analysis, communication, coronavirus, covid-19, patient comments, patient experience, vaccine