Financial Dimension in Healthcare, Free Essay for Everyone

Patient's experience refers to the interaction between patients and the healthcare system. That interaction includes the doctors, the nurses, and the hospital staff (Kludacz-Alessandri, 2016). The kind of services offered by a hospital directly influences their finances. In addition, the experiences of patients during their time at the hospital such as the noise level during night time or the communication skills of doctors and nurses determine the performance of the facility. Fundamentally, hospitals should strive to give the best care to their patients since the quality of care offered has significant implications on the financial returns.

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Hospitals that have better patient experiences have higher profits. Such hospitals obtain feedback from the patients hence they are able to adjust when needed. In other words, hospitals with "excellent" rating from patients have higher net income. Patients easily switch hospitals due to poor service. Improving patient experience enables a hospital to improve their financial performance. Importantly, improving the patient experience strengthens the loyalty of the patients, builds the reputation of the facility, and also expands the customer base because the patients are more likely refer their families and acquaintances.

Although other factors like ownership and the location of a hospital are important, patient experience is the most important as far as financial performamnce of a hospital goes (Kludacz-Alessandri, 2016). This is well demonstrated in cases whereby hospitals in the same locality record different earnings due to the difference in the quality of services offered. However, it is important to note that high cost of health care services should not be attributed to better patient experience or high quality services. Some hospitals charge high costs yet offer low quality services while others charge low costs but offer high quality services. However, highly skilled doctors and health care practitioners usually demand high salaries. Given their professionalism, they are more likely to improve patient experience and offer quality services. In turn, the hospital administration transfers the costs to the patients. That creates the assumption that high costs are attributed to better patient experience and better services.

In conclusion, patient experience influences the financial performance of a hospital. However, it is important to note that this assumption is not always true because some hospital administrators are in the business for money rather than improve the health of the society. Fundamentally, it is impossible to provide better patient experience or quality care without enough funds hence the relationship between high costs and better patient experience.

References

Kludacz-Alessandri, M. (2016). Non-financial dimensions of measurement and assessment in the performance model for hospitals. Managerial Economics, 17(1), 93.