Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Net promoter scoring needs to be tweaked for medicine

Philip DeGaetano, MD
Physician
January 6, 2019
52 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Net promoter scoring (NPS) measures customer experience and predicts business growth. Recently it is becoming more common for health networks to adopt NPS. The word “customer” should be a red flag. In medicine, we do not have customers; we have patients.

It is common practice for a patient to receive a text message after they leave an office asking them to rate their experience. It generally looks something like this, “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” Through an open-ended follow-up question, the patient is asked to elaborate on their rating.

This tool has proven to promote the company through word of mouth. For a business with customers, it appears to be a great idea. However, our patients are not customers.

I often say, “I’m not in the ‘make people happy’ business, I’m in the ‘make people healthy’ business.” I care with great empathy for my patients, and I would like to think that it shows. If however, a patient does not agree with my treatment plan but walks out of my office with sound medical care, then why should I receive negative feedback? Even if you can brush off the bad review, you will still have to explain yourself to an administrator.

I do not doubt that we all have strong principals as doctors. But how long until those principles start to crack? When will we subconsciously decide to make a patient happy instead of healthy? I firmly believe that medicine is a science based on peer-reviewed findings. Practicing medicine any other was is no better than a Wild West medicine show. A good health care network will support you no matter the review. I fear that NPS is shifting physicians to practice medicine based on emotions, not science.

I want health care companies to make money. I want them to prosper, and I want to thrive with them, but not at the cost of unsound practices. If scoring tools are proven to be successful, why not create a new one for medicine? Start by viewing our customers as patients.

A new proposal may ask a patient 2 to 5 days later, “How would you rate your care based on your current health?” This subtly reminds the patient that we care foremost about your health while still establishing loyalty. Open-ended follow-up questions would be the same. Next, the review should never get back to the provider. If there are issues with certain doctors within a practice, it is usually an accumulation of many complaints, at which point he/she should be spoken to. Single isolated reviews, good or bad, should not get back to the provider.

In the days of Yelp and Google reviews, ratings are unavoidable. We should all have great bedside manner and treat patients with dignity and respect. We should also try to make them happy, but not at the cost of their health. Health care is not the same as the automobile or food industry. As providers, we have to stay steadfast to our principals and remember why we practice medicine.

Philip DeGaetano is a family physician who blogs at FastPass Medicine and can be reached on Twitter @FastPassMedici1.

mage credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

An approach to prior authorization insurance denials

January 6, 2019 Kevin 6
…
Next

Physician gives in to police pressure to conduct a forced invasive rectal exam

January 7, 2019 Kevin 17
…

Tagged as: Primary Care

Post navigation

< Previous Post
An approach to prior authorization insurance denials
Next Post >
Physician gives in to police pressure to conduct a forced invasive rectal exam

More by Philip DeGaetano, MD

  • Genuine empathy goes a long way

    Philip DeGaetano, MD

Related Posts

  • How social media can advance humanism in medicine

    Pooja Lakshmin, MD
  • Why academic medicine needs to value physician contributions to online platforms

    Ariela L. Marshall, MD
  • The difference between learning medicine and doing medicine

    Steven Zhang, MD
  • KevinMD at the Richmond Academy of Medicine

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Street medicine: You don’t know about it, but you don’t care to

    Ti Hoang
  • Cannabinoids are medicine, but patients aren’t getting the care they need

    Jill Becker, MD

More in Physician

  • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

    Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA
  • Discover the power of patience

    Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH
  • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

    Kim Downey, PT
  • Physician return-to-work policies

    Deepak Gupta, MD
  • How my patients’ Zoom backgrounds made me a better doctor

    Joseph Barrera, MD
  • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

    Anonymous
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • When physicians are disrespected [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • Unveiling excessive medical billing and greed

      Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH | Policy
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When physicians are disrespected [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Addressing dual diagnosis needs in addiction treatment

      Susan Hertz Berrick, EdD | Conditions
    • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Discover the power of patience

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • End-of-life ethics and antibiotic use [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Novavax's Updated COVID Shot Authorized by FDA
  • SBRT Noninferior to Conventional RT for Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer
  • Mixed Bag for Early Metformin in Gestational Diabetes
  • FDA Advisors to Consider DFMO Maintenance for High-Risk Neuroblastoma in Kids
  • Adding Tirzepatide to Basal Insulin Cuts HbA1c in Poorly Controlled T2D

Meeting Coverage

  • SBRT Noninferior to Conventional RT for Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer
  • Mixed Bag for Early Metformin in Gestational Diabetes
  • Adding Tirzepatide to Basal Insulin Cuts HbA1c in Poorly Controlled T2D
  • Low Relapse Rates With Twice-Yearly Schizophrenia Treatment
  • Menopause Can Negatively Affect Women's Careers
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Understanding reproductive rights: complex considerations

      Anonymous | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • When physicians are disrespected [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • Unveiling excessive medical billing and greed

      Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH | Policy
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • When physicians are disrespected [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Addressing dual diagnosis needs in addiction treatment

      Susan Hertz Berrick, EdD | Conditions
    • The essence of health narratives, including poetry

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Physician
    • Discover the power of patience

      Diane W. Shannon, MD, MPH | Physician
    • Doctors rediscover joy in practicing medicine, on their own terms

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • End-of-life ethics and antibiotic use [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...