In Focus: Winning Moves

It's All About You: Patient Satisfaction with Plastic Surgery is About the Surgeon, Not the Practice

Patient satisfaction after plastic surgery is most affected by surgeon-related factors, such as taking the time to answer questions and including patients in the decision-making process, finds a study in the September issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

The researchers analyzed responses to a patient satisfaction questionnaire distributed to patients of nearly 700 plastic surgeons nationwide. The study included responses from nearly 37,000 patients, including more than 400 from the authors' plastic surgery department.

The study focused on two questionnaire items: patients' ratings of how likely they would be to recommend the plastic surgeon and the plastic surgery practice to others. These “likelihood to recommend” items have been identified as useful indicators of overall patient satisfaction and success of the medical practice.

Several categories of practice-related factors did not have a major impact on the likelihood of recommending the surgeon or practice. Correlations were weak for items such as office hours or scheduling appointments, waiting times, interactions with nurses or staff other than the surgeon, or attention to patient privacy or safety.

In contrast, items specifically related to the plastic surgeon were strongly related to the likelihood of recommending the surgeon and practice. The strongest items were the patient's level of confidence in the surgeon and the surgeon's concern for the patient's questions and worries. Other important factors included the surgeon's explanations of the problem or condition and efforts to include the patient in decisions.

A New Patient Education Hub: Allergan Introduces Spotlyte

Allergan has launched Spotlyte (thespotlyte.com), described as an innovative digital hub of curated content that helps consumers discover how medical aesthetic treatments may fit into their routines. Spotlyte is the first venture from the new Allergan-owned digital ventures unit, Project Moonwalker, which is dedicated to creating consumer facing businesses that unlock opportunities in the medical aesthetics category.

Spotlyte promises well-researched content, product reviews, and insider profiles, together with the latest beauty news and trends, offering a holistic and informative lens into these worlds. Spotlyte will provide access to a team of trained specialists ready to offer real-time support and chat directly with anyone considering medical aesthetic treatments, as well as help connect readers to local licensed providers.

In keeping with its stated goal of educating consumers and providing well researched and accurate information on medical aesthetics, the company says the site is brand agnostic.

Improve Patient Flow: Advantage SMART Practice Suite Available from Compulink

New artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled features are now available from Compulink Healthcare Solutions' Advantage SMART Practice. Advantage uses AI technology and real-time data from the clinic to completely automate tasks such as billing, along with eliminating steps to improve patient flow.

AI-driven enhancements include:

• Advantage SMART Workflow: Advantage knows which patients are being seen based on their room assignment and automatically displays their record when needed. The system also lets providers and staff know who is waiting, where they need to go next, and keeps them constantly informed for maximum efficiency.
• SMART Automated Billing, Eligibility & ERA Posting: Using the Advantage PracticeWatch task automation engine, staff can schedule eligibility, claims submission, and remittance posting to run unattended. Advantage also automatically populates a claim edit worklist to quickly identify and correct issues.
• Advantage SMART Patient Engagement: Advantage automatically communicates personalized content directly to the patient's mobile device. This includes information about products and services specific to each individual patient as they arrive at the office and move through the normal patient workflow.