The ONE secret to family caregiver satisfaction

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By: Melissa Polly, MBA, Marketing, CitusHealth

While hospice and palliative care providers have spent the last decade investing in better technology for staff and clinical systems, they’ve fallen short when it comes to meeting the expectations of family caregivers—those who ultimately choose providers and determine CAHPS scores.

Together with Porter Research, we conducted a groundbreaking research study of 300 family caregivers who had a loved one under hospice care within the past 12 months. When we asked these caregivers what impacts their satisfaction, we found one key expectation that can make or break the way they score your organization: communication. This secret to satisfaction may seem simple, but family caregivers put significant importance on how they’re engaged by providers.

We found that despite using real-time communication methods like apps and instant messaging in most other areas of daily life, many family caregivers are limited by their hospice and palliative care provider to phone, email, and unsecure text messages. This could be a big problem for providers, as these dated methods of communicating are negatively impacting hospice and palliative care CAHPS results and heavily influencing whether providers are chosen.

Here are some key findings from the study that show how communications can truly affect your organization.

Are most family caregivers satisfied with hospice and palliative care communication?

No. On average, only 43% of family caregivers claimed to be “very satisfied” with their providers on communication with family, training family to care for the patient, getting timely help, and emotional and spiritual support.

Can communication affect CAHPS scores?

Yes, it’s clear that methods of communication have a major influence on family caregiver satisfaction. In fact, 80% of family caregivers would give a hospice and palliative care higher CAHPS scores if they enable instant communication through computer, tablet, or mobile phone. 

Will better communication give your organization a competitive edge?

Undoubtedly. 78% of family caregivers would choose a hospice and palliative care that enables instant communication through computer, tablet, or mobile phone. 

Although the impact of real-time communication can be significant, many organizations continue to rely on dated methods. The good news is that hospice and palliative care providers can solve these challenges. By implementing a virtual patient care strategy that utilizes technology to specifically address the most important communication needs, providers will likely experience a dramatic positive impact on quality of care, family caregiver satisfaction, and CAHPS survey results.

Request a demo to experience how CitusHealth can help your organization gain a competitive advantage with technology that enables real-time family caregiver communication in the mode they prefer—including computer, tablet, and smartphone.

*Porter Research: Family Caregiver Satisfaction Study, September 2020