Patient loyalty and healthcare stewardship

Practicing in a small rural community is challenging. Word spreads quickly regarding the quality of medical care available in the community.Williston,Florida is no exception.
Teddy Roosevelt is famous for this unforgettable saying,"Speak softly and carry a big stick". I have tried to obey this edict for years but I really trusted it beginning with my very first day at Nature Coast Regional Hospital. It was my hope to come to the hospital with very little fanfare. Many physicians had come and gone before me and the perception in our community of the hospital and family health center (aka, the clinic) was poor regarding the quality of medical care available.
I started out working several shifts each week in our emergency department. I admitted patients to our hospital and followed them on the floor during their stay. I offered to be their family physician upon discharge in our family health center. Most importantly, I did this under the cover of silence. My goal was to allow word of mouth to spread about the new doctor in town and the quality of care being delivered.
Patient loyalty is much different than patient satisfaction. When patients are satisfied, they are happy with their medical care but they really wouldn't go to the ends of the earth to see "the physician". When patients become loyal, the physician becomes "their physician" and they would travel great distances just to have that one-on-one interaction because there is no other.
Dr. Joe Inguanzo in a recent article on customer loyalty in Hospitals and Health Networks , stated that over the last 25 years, an average of 80 percent of consumers have consistently laid claim to a hospital they would call their "own." More than half of the top 10 reasons consumers prefer a certain hospital center on some form of loyalty: they have always gone there; there is a strong perception of personalized care; a doctor recommended the hospital; perceptions of overall reputation are positive; they or a friend or relative works there; patients' experiences with staff are memorable.
Patient loyalty is a critical element for establishing healthcare stewardship. When patients become loyal, there willingness to buy into the process of healthcare stewardship is much easier. They can be molded into more respectful consumers of healthcare goods and services. Preventive care and wellness become the focus of office visits with fewer and fewer visits for sick care. Emergency room visits go down dramatically and are replaced with many more outpatient encounters. The patient-centered medical home becomes a reality for the busy practitioner.
Nine months have passed since I arrived at Nature Coast Regional Health System.
We are starting to act like a health system and not a fragmented hospital with a dysfunctional "clinic". My partner Jim Long, PA-C, and I are constantly amazed at how quickly we have developed patient loyalty. This month, we will have surpassed over 800 encounters in our family health center. Our average daily census grows in the hospital. We see an average of 20 patients at our local nursing home each week. People are no longer driving away from Williston but they are driving to our community to get their health care. Quality, cost and access are being followed closely and Jim and I are winning the war. Hard work, dedicated staff, caring and kindness are becoming the norm in our health system. Healthcare Stewardship is alive and thriving in Williston.
Dr. Dale