Good Old Fashioned Health Care

Dawn Cook CEO

05/31/2007

Health Access Network (HAN) recently conducted a patient satisfaction survey, and we are pleased to report 1,819 of our patients stated we are doing a good job, scoring us 4.4 out of a possible 5.0. Patients from HAN clinics in Enfield, Lincoln, Medway, and Millinocket rated us on a number of questions covering 7 major categories: Ease of Getting Care, Waiting, Staff, Payment, Facility, and Confidentiality. As no surprise to us, we consistently scored highest in questions about providers and staff, who were described by patients as friendly, caring, competent, prompt, and helpful. HAN employees are our most valuable asset - in fact, they are HAN!

One survey comment struck me as particularly poignant, this patient said “Just give me good old fashioned health care”. I have worked with physicians for 20 years, and share this patient’s sentiment. We all miss days when health care was a bit simpler. Today’s providers are struggling against declining reimbursement, increasing malpractice rates, and regulatory requirements which affect how we practice. Within these constraints, though, our center does strive to offer good, old fashioned health care. Our goal is to assure “community” always leads our community health center, and “patient” is #1 in patient care. HAN is a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors, 82% who are HAN patients. This board composition is for a reason….Who cares more about patient care than the patients themselves?! We have worked to improve how we treat diabetes, involving patients in managing their own disease and healthcare goals. We have partnered with other health care groups to explore how we can better care for our aging population. Our central administrative office employs billers, financial experts, managers, and other patient support staff to assist our providers in the delivery of sustainable health care, freeing them to focus more on patient care, rather than office management. We also seek provider input in all aspects of center operations, especially quality. HAN has implemented an electronic medical record to be finalized this fall. This system allows us to more easily track patient care and enables us to do such things as mail notices to a patient’s home when they are overdue for important preventive care such as physicals, immunizations, lab testing, and other life-saving screenings.

Health Access Network takes patient satisfaction seriously. Survey information is reviewed and discussed by our board of directors, providers, and staff. I personally have read each of the 1,819 surveys and comments. We will give careful thought to patient recommendations, and criticisms, and consider such questions as: Can we offer more convenient hours? How can we improve our response time? Should we schedule differently for patients who are elderly? We know we have work to do, and we look forward to finding ways to better serve you, our patient, and to provide you with good, old-fashioned health care.