By Vadim Shteyler
Increasing hospitality in medical facilities is not a recent trend. We take for granted that modern hospitals offer clean sheets, towels, a plethora of toiletries, heated blankets, and many other amenities. Conversely, in the hospitals of decades past, many patients relied on family members to bring food and clean sheets. Rows of hospital beds in an open ward precluded privacy. Unhygienic conditions commonly resulted in rodent infestations. And paternalism in medicine was still the norm.
This trend towards hospitality has recently gained new momentum. As featured in a recent article in Kaiser Health News, dozens of hospitals have hired Chief Patient Experience Officers from customer service or hotel industries. Since 2012, when Medicare began penalizing hospitals for poor patient experiences, hospital efforts to improve patient satisfaction have grown. Some hospitals began mandating communication seminars, encouraging nurses to spend more face-to-face time with patients, and calling patients after discharge to follow-up on their recovery. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), further tying hospital reimbursements to patient surveys, has additionally promoted such changes.
A similar trend has arisen with the increased popularity of V.I.P. sections in many hospitals. Though the hospital construction boom is beginning to slow down, the resultant V.I.P. rooms remain. Lenox-Hill Hospital’s maternity suite in New York City, which received a lot of media attention after Beyonce gave birth there in 2012, is one of many luxurious suites across the nation. Some, offering personal shoppers, private chefs, and salon services, are priced upwards of $4,000. While nobody calls for a return to the hospitals of old, many feel suites such as these are excessive. Read More