A record number of referring providers give Rogers high marks in annual survey, suggest areas for improvement
07/14/23 05:00:pm
More than 1,200 referral sources from 21 states recently took the opportunity to complete a survey evaluating their satisfaction with Rogers. This marks the highest participation to date since the annual survey started in 2019.
Overall, 54% of respondents chose a 9 or 10 on the NPS, indicating they are highly likely to refer or recommend Rogers for specialty behavioral health treatment. New this year, Rogers is using a 10-point scale, a best practice known as the Net Promoter Score (NPS). Respondents are also asked to rate their satisfaction by level of care, and communication during the admission process, during treatment, and discharge planning.
“A score of 9 or 10 indicates someone is a promoter of Rogers,” says Brian Kay, PhD, chief of staff. “They’re considered to be a loyal customer who will go out of their way to follow Rogers and recommend our services. We should be proud of receiving a score of 54%. It means we have a larger than average group of promoters sharing their positive perceptions with their personal networks.”
Also new this year, we asked referring partners to share their experience with Rogers and our continued commitment to serve the community’s diverse populations. That valuable feedback will be leveraged to support our ongoing improvement work through the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Value Stream.
Why respondents trust Rogers with the care of their patients
The top reasons why respondents said they refer to Rogers include the evidence-based treatment we provide, colleague or professional contact, and their continued relationships with Rogers outreach representatives.
Suggestions for areas of improvement
According to survey results, Rogers’ biggest opportunities to improve relationships and satisfaction are on:
Referral and admissions processes: 7% dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied (down from 19% last year)
Communication with clinical team during treatment: 8% are dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied
Communication regarding discharge: 11% are dissatisfied or highly dissatisfied
"This annual survey is an extremely valuable tool in giving our referring partners a voice, and we’ve able to use this feedback every year to promote changes in our internal processes,” shares Janet Gatlin, director of Outreach, Central and Northern Service Areas. “The more we, as an organization, can leverage this candid feedback, the more our communities will value us as a partner.”
Michael Beyer, director of Outreach, Eastern and Western Service Areas, adds, “The survey also gives us a chance to follow up with our referents to do service recovery and even thank them for their support. Oftentimes these conversations deepen a referral relationship moving forward and reiterate our commitment to listening to our community stakeholders.”
Positive and constructive feedback
Rogers received 450 comments to two open-ended questions. One asked for ways that Rogers can better meet the needs of referents or patients. Here is a sampling of what they said:
”I highly recommend contact from a treatment team member at least upon client admission and discharge (days prior). I have not received any discharge paperwork for the last 4 clients that have received treatment in the past 6 months. This is concerning. Collaboration used to be much better.”
“My patient’s treatment was amazing! Great communication and collaboration while my patient was in treatment.”
“Updates on treatment, discharge updates to ensure outpatient provider can schedule. Updates on if level of care has changed or any other important updates. As an OP clinician, I am interested in progress and barriers to progress, and could likely be helpful to staff if they reached out.”
“Thanks for your support in caring for my patient! She is doing amazingly and just finished her first year of college.”
“Still seems to be more difficult than expected to get someone referred and ultimately cared for.”
“Make certain that when referrals are made that it doesn’t take three weeks and many badgering phone calls to get responses. The ball has been dropped with several of our referrals. Also, it is hard to get someone who is knowledgeable to respond to admission questions.”
“Better communication with the schools throughout.”
“Discharge meetings with family and school team prior to child coming back to school. It seems that the family is made responsible for this now, and it just isn’t happening or we don’t know the child has been discharged prior to returning to school. It makes the return to school difficult without a meeting and plan done prior.”
“Our student services team at our middle school has observed students come back to school in a much better state then when they left for treatment. Parents often speak very highly of the work and support they, too, received to work together with their child. I’d like to get to the EP location for a tour. I’d like to hear more firsthand the start to finish care plan for middle school students.”
Feedback on care for diverse patients
The second open-ended question asked referents how they believe diverse patients view Rogers and any barriers that may cause them to hesitate to refer them to us. Here is a sampling of what they said:
“Feedback I’ve received from my LGBTQIA+ patients has been positive.”
“I struggle to refer non-binary or trans clients to residential.”
“We have had a few LGBTQIA+ students in Rogers this year and haven’t noticed any barriers to their care versus other students.”
" A thought that comes to mind to make Rogers residential option more inclusive would be to clarify what the boarding experience might be like for a non-binary or trans individuals.”
