Monday, June 16, 2008

Medical Mystery Shopping in the News

Recently, healthcare mystery shopping was in the news again. The AMA ethics counsel is asking doctors to endorse the practice and not all doctors are onboard; view the debate. An Examine your Practice client Dr. James Loden has been an advocate of healthcare mystery shopping since he began using medical mystery shoppers 2 years ago. He made changes based on the unbiased information provided and realized an immediate increase in patient consultations converting to elective surgery and referrals.

Healthcare mystery shopping is very valuable to specialists or "fee for service" practitioners that offer elective procedures. Plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists offering Lasik surgery, cosmetic dentists and dermatologists understand measuring and improving patient care results in increased referrals and treatment acceptance.

Nursing homes and assisted living communities also employ healthcare mystery shoppers to make observations, recognize areas in need of improvement and reward outstanding employees.

The doctors that do not support medical mystery shopping have valid concerns but not all mystery shopping companies practice as they described. Experienced healthcare mystery shopping companies understand “mystery patients” should never go before real patients in an emergency room setting where life threatening situations may present. It is the healthcare mystery shopping company’s responsibility to educate the clients to the danger of such practice and presenting with chest pain or something equally emergent should not be done.

Medical mystery shopping is not about getting doctors and staff fired; we are not there to judge clinical skills. It is about recognizing training needs and view the facility through the patients' eyes thereby improving the patient experience. Many healthcare facilities use mystery shopping to reward staff, catch them doing something right; this creates a positive work environment and reduces staff turnover. Doctors and staff should not feel threatened or deceived by this practice; they should be proud to part of an organization that cares enough to measure their level of patient satisfaction and strives to provide the best possible patient care.

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