By Debbie Vass, Director of Quality Initiatives for Paramedics Plus

EMS has long been known for monitoring performances such as response times, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rates, on-scene times and more. These are important performance measures that can lead to improved patient outcomes.

Medical excellence has always been a priority for EMS. However, it’s no longer enough to know that you arrived at the patient’s side quickly, provided exceptional medical care and possibly saved their life.
Patient experience is now becoming just as important. Medicare reimbursement and higher consumer expectations are both contributing factors to patient experience playing a larger role in the EMS industry.

Many patients will only call on EMS once in their lifetime, so their first impression will be their lasting impression of the service an agency provides. Although patients often don’t have a choice of which EMS provider responds to their emergency, EMS agencies must still treat them as if they do and provide the best possible experience.

The patient experience goes beyond addressing a patient’s medical condition. For example, Paramedics Plus received a complaint from a patient who claimed a crew had ruined her favorite nightgown. Its clinical services department looked into the call and found the crew had cut her gown as they were treating her for cardiac arrest. It wasn’t enough that the medics saved her life—she wanted the company to replace her gown.

To read the rest of this article click on link: EMS Word Magazine.