Quality and Patient Satisfaction
At Hill Physicians, we are dedicated to providing the highest quality of care. Our quality and patient satisfaction initiatives give our members and the communities we serve a healthcare network that is consistently rated among the best by independent third parties, including the California Office of the Patient Advocate. In the California Association of Physician Group's fourth annual Standards of Excellence survey, Hill Physicians has once again earned the highest status of "Elite" for 2010.
Quality Initiatives | Patient Satisfaction Resources | Third-Party Reports
Quality Initiatives
Easy access to preventive testing and screenings on a variety of health topics and a collaborative approach to improving outcomes for people with chronic conditions are just a few of the many things we’re doing to enhance and expand the care we provide.
We continually monitor our clinical results, both for individual physicians and across the medical group. And, we provide our physicians with data on their performance to ensure continual improvement at the individual practice level.
Preventive Testing and Screenings
Hill Physicians ranks among the best medical groups in the state in terms of improving the overall health of our members through preventive screenings and other clinical quality measures. Preventive screenings have been found to help reduce hospitalizations and, in some cases, identify diseases before they get out of control.
For 2008, the percentage of Hill Physicians patients who received preventive screenings for a variety of chronic conditions remained high, exceeding most clinical benchmarks.
The chart compares our clinical achievements on four key preventive screenings with the average of all medical groups in California up to 2008.
About the Screenings
Breast Cancer Screening
This measure shows the percentage of women ages 52 to 69 who received a mammogram. Women aged 40 to 75 should receive a mammogram every two years. Check our Online Health Centers for more information.
Cervical Cancer Screening
This measure shows the percentage of women ages 18 to 64 who received a Pap test. Women should begin having Pap smears at the onset of sexual activity and, after that, once every three years. Check our Online Health Centers for more information.
Annual Diabetes Testing
This measure shows the percentage of diabetes patients who received at least one annual HbA1c test to check blood sugar control. Check our Online Health Centers for more information.
Chlamydia Screening
This measure shows the percentage of sexually active women ages 16 to 25 who have had one or more test for chlamydia. Chlamydia is a curable sexually transmitted disease, but, when left untreated, causes scarring, infertility and chronic pelvic infection. Screening should begin at the onset of sexual activity and continue annually through age 25 thereafter. Check our Online Health Centers for more information.
Health Education Programs
Hill Physicians firmly believes our health and wellness classes and programs can make a significant contribution to improving the overall health of our members. Throughout the year, we offer classes and programs on a wide variety of health topics such as arthritis, diabetes, heart health, insomnia, nutrition, stress management and weight management.
Patient Satisfaction
When our members are happy, we know we’ve done our job. And we must be doing it right.
Our members report high levels of satisfaction both with their care and their relationships with their physicians. Hill Physicians scored higher overall than the majority of California medical groups on the 2010 Patient Assessment Survey (PAS).
We also welcome and encourage feedback from our patients to their physicians and to us. Through our In-Office Patient Feedback Program, patients can complete an online survey immediately after an office visit, giving the physician important information about the quality of service provided by the office. We also invite comments from our members through our Give Us Your Feedback program.
Patient Satisfaction Resources
9 High Impact Changes to Improve Patient Satisfaction
(see CQC Resources below for more information)
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Negotiate the agenda with the patient at the start of each visit.
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Make a personal connection through eye contact, and demonstrate compassion through empathetic statements
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Provide closure to the visit by summarizing next steps and action plan
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Notify patients of all test results, whether positive or negative
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Review patient’s chart prior to starting the visit
- Handle more than one concern during the visit and extend return intervals as clinically appropriate
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Open same day appointment slots
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Conduct regular practice team meetings or daily brief “check-ins” and measure practice site satisfaction at least quarterly
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Obtain ongoing feedback from patients through a survey, at least monthly
Relay Health
Communication is an important component to patient satisfaction. Relay Health offers an online option for patients and offices to securely communicate with each other. For more information on the numerous features of Relay Health click below to go to their website.
Click here for some quick facts about Relay Health
Click here to go to the Relay Health Website
Patient Preference Sheet on Notification
One way to ensure patients are content with the way the office communicates with them is to ask them. Here is a sample sheet that can be used to ask patients how they like to be notified of lab or diagnostic test results.
Click here to download a sample sheet
California Quality Collaborative Resources
The mission of California Quality Collaborative (CQC) is to identify and accelerate the adoption of proven innovations in ambulatory care to achieve the highest attainable value of healthcare they deliver. One of their initiatives is the Improving the Patient Experience Collaborative. There is a lot of helpful information and a number of resources on their website including a tip sheet and video that share proven interventions to increase patient satisfaction scores.
Click here to go to the CQC Patient Experience Resources Page
Patient Assessment Surveys
These surveys are sent out to patients each year in order to evaluate physicians and physician groups in California. The results are used in the California Statewide Pay for Performance Initiative and the California Office of the Patient Advocate’s Report Card to evaluate medical groups.
The following links show the specific questions asked for the 2010 Patient Assessment Surveys:
Independent Third-Party Quality Reports
The California Office of the Patient Advocate and Healthscope offer independently prepared reports on the quality of HMO healthcare in California.
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Healthscope: This site compares medical groups based on statistics from more than 50,000 Californians. You’ll also find health plan comparisons.