The warmth of love and hands of care are key to staff engagement in healthcare that results in pleasant patient experience.

Staff engagement, also called employee engagement, accounts for a major portion of customer satisfaction irrespective of the business type. Essentially, the concept of customer and Staff Engagement in healthcare is a bit different. It is because patients are more than average customers and healthcare service is entirely different from a general service. After all, taking a pill is different from using an iPhone.

Moreover, health is a sensitive issue which outweighs every other aspect of life. Included in this article are the benefits of staff engagement in healthcare to both the patients and healthcare service provider’s organization.

What is Staff Engagement in Healthcare? Know the Basics

In common uses, staff engagement is the practice of how a manager manages their subordinates in a way that helps to achieve the organizational goal. That being said, the staff manager takes care of every process and members that work in a specific department or the organization as a whole. In addition, it also sets standards for responsibilities and liabilities for every member. When the concept of staff engagement is applied to the healthcare sector, it is known as staff engagement in healthcare.

The two basic components that determine staff engagement are:

• Human resource management

Any activity in an organization that involves proper utilization of the abilities of employees in an organization is called human resource management (HRM). The basic elements of HRM are employee selection, recruitment, training and development, and retention. Some organizations hire a human resource manager in order to look after the productivity of their employees.

• Line management

Line management follows a chain of command on the basis of the organizational hierarchy. For example, a staff manager supervises and oversees the activities of the subordinates in his/her department. Likewise, the CEO (chief executive officer) who holds the highest position in an organization oversees the activities of every other member of the organization.

3 Ways Staff Engagement in Healthcare is Different from Other Sectors

1. Health is a sensitive issue. Well, it doesn’t take a great mind to understand that health is wealth. Any minor error in medication can be fatal at times. It is therefore critically important to separate health service from any other service.
2. Patients and the average customer are different. Before we explore, let’s keep in mind the difference between a customer and consumer. A customer is an individual who buys a product or uses a service. On the other hand, a consumer is the one who exclusively uses a service. Simply put, consumers are a subset of customers. For this reason, patients are consumers rather than customers.
3. Healthcare regulation is more stringent than other sectors. Because public health is a sensitive issue, healthcare watchdogs require healthcare providers to work in a more restricted regulatory framework. For example, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates medication, veterinary drugs, biological products, and medical devices but stays a bit relaxed when it comes to dietary supplements.  Similarly, hospitals need to follow a well-defined set of standards in order to ensure the safety of patient health and efficacy of the services they provide.

Know the Benefits of Proper Staff Engagement in Healthcare

Proper staff management in healthcare offers a myriad of benefits to the patients and service providers. In fact, the benefits are both tangible and intangible.

• Tangible benefits of proper staff engagement in healthcare. If you consider healthcare service as a business practice, the tangible benefits are those that can be measured in monetary terms. With proper staff management, the providers can achieve increased revenues and profits. Consequently, you can expect to get high-quality service in an organization that spends a major portion of its revenues in research, purchase of quality equipment, and recruitment of qualified staff.
• Intangible benefits of proper staff engagement in healthcare. The intangible benefits cannot be measured directly in monetary terms but have a profound impact on how a patient feels about the services they use. Enhanced patient experience is the most valuable benefit of proper staff engagement in healthcare. As a matter of fact, happy customers are those who feel great about the services they use.

Key Takeaways

• Staff engagement is key to enhanced patient experience and greater revenues for the healthcare provider.
• In order to ensure proper staff engagement, the providers need to ensure that their human resource management and line management function optimally.
• Some large healthcare organizations have a separate department and team of qualified staff for achieving their target revenues through increased patient experience.
• Statistics suggest that a high level of staff engagement leads to patient-centered care, patient safety culture and employees’ positive assessments of the quality of care or services provided by their team.
• In addition to fulfilling one’s on-job responsibilities, staff engagement in healthcare is an emotional journey.
• When you visit a hospital or any other healthcare institution as a patient, watch for the following signs that indicate how the engaged hospital worker takes care of your health.

1. The engaged hospital worker makes eye contact and responds positively to the patient’s as well as visitor’s inquiries.
2. They help to escort the family members of the patient to their destination.
3. Check IV lines and other medical devices at regular intervals to make sure the devices are functioning as intended.
4. Listen to your problems and suggest the best ways to tackle them.
5. Maintain a peaceful and friendly environment in the working area.

Want To Know More?

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