In a recent Care Logistics' article, Janet Cromley, healthcare journalist and author, takes a look at a patient’s experience and discusses how health systems can work to improve patient satisfaction.
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Care Logistics’s website.
Each year, roughly 20 percent of adults in the U.S. will end up visiting an emergency room for one reason or another. Last month, New York writer and taxi driver Chuck S. joined that group. I’d like to tell his story because I think it captures the problems that many patients experience in the hospital and ER. Full disclosure, Chuck is the friend of a colleague, and I’ve changed his name to protect his identity.
During a regular physical therapy session for back pain, Chuck began experiencing weakness in his left arm and then, even more worrisome, began to have trouble speaking. His PT noticed that the left side of Chuck’s face was drooping and immediately sent him to the ER of a large urban medical center with a suspected stroke.
Once in the ER, Chuck began an odyssey that featured overall good clinical care but that left him feeling dispirited, anxious and alone. It’s a story that he wants to share with every hospital leader. “I think every person who manages a hospital could benefit from seeing the process through my eyes,” he said.
Among his experiences:
Being kept in the dark: Chuck was in the ER for five hours, and during that time received very little information about his condition. “The whole time I was wondering, ‘Am I having a stroke? Am I going to die?” he recalled. The single parent of a 10-year-old daughter, Chuck was suddenly confronted with the unthinkable. “The prospect of having a stroke is terrifying for so many reasons, and I got zero information,” he said.
Endlessly retelling his story: At every juncture, Chuck was asked what had happened and to describe his symptoms. “I wish I had recorded a CD beforehand telling my name and story, because I had to repeat it so many times,” he reported. “They should have one person asking all the questions.”
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