HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
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View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
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View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
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View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreThe following blog post is taken from remarks by John Boornazian, MD, chief medical officer at Huggins Hospital in Wolfeboro, CT.
Most of us in healthcare have strong views regarding the terms “patient” and “customer.” I can remember filling out an application form for a health insurance company, and they asked how many customers I saw each week. I was quite offended, so I crossed out customers and wrote in patients.
I recently had the pleasure of being part of a very inclusive process to develop a three- to five-year strategic plan for my hospital. This group of employees, administrators, board members and physicians spent a long time discussing these terms.
The Meaning of the Word “Patient”
As a physician, the word patient really means something to me. Over the past few years, however, I have come to appreciate the thinking around healthcare customers and understand where using that business term is at times more appropriate and helpful.
“Patient-physician relationship” is first ingrained in medical school and has an important legal meaning. The AMA code of medical ethics speaks to this: “The practice of medicine, and its embodiment in the clinical encounter between a patient and a physician, is fundamentally a moral activity that arises from the imperative to care for patients and to alleviate suffering. The relationship between a patient and the physician is based on trust, which gives rise to the physician’s ethical responsibility to place patients’ welfare above the physician’s own self-interests or obligations to others, to use sound judgment on the patient’s behalf, and to advocate for their patient’s welfare.”
When we speak of a physician-patient relationship, we know that relationship is like the relationship between patients and other professionals in the hospital, including nurses and therapists.
A Trusting Relationship in Healthcare
I had the opportunity, years ago, to witness this trusting relationship. A patient in her mid-80s came to my office with newly recognized atrial fibrillation. After the evaluation, I told her the best approach was to have an electrical cardioversion. She agreed, and it was scheduled. In the ICU, she asked me several questions, and with each answer she looked at the nurse, whose name was Nancy, standing on the other side of the bed. She would not avert her gaze until Nancy responded either verbally or with a nod of approval. At the end of her questions, I stated, “it’s clear to me whom you trust the most—the nurse!” She laughed and said, “You’re darn right!” This woman was my patient, but she was also Nancy’s patient.
Consumerism is a relatively new concept in healthcare, but it is evident everywhere. When a patient decides to establish with a practice based on evening hours or online scheduling, or goes to their portal to ask questions or check their labs, they are acting like customers. When they decide to initiate a virtual visit with a physician they’ve never met, they are acting like customers. When they look for a hospital’s CMS star ratings before having elective surgery at that institution, they are being customers.
A reputation of excellent medical care and strong service will bring customers to us. When we develop a trusting relationship with them, they become our patients.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
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View All ResuscitationNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream's solutions allow your healthcare workforce to be confident and competent with the knowledge they are upholding the highest of standards.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsDelivers everything you need to request, gather, and validate information about a provider to create a single source of truth for downstream processes.
View All CredentialingMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All Scheduling & Capacity ManagementNurseGrid and Keener - HealthStream's mobile apps built by nurses, for nurses - help nurses take control of their schedules, practice self-care, and build a more sustainable career.
View All ProductsTake the stress out of scheduling with real-time technology that engages nurses and healthcare workers from HealthStream.
View All ProductsProvide an easier way to view healthcare staff capacity insights while seeing a patient’s journey with HealthStream’s operational intelligence and machine learning products.
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