Study On Status And Strategies Of Complaints Management In Hospitals In China

Objective: Based on literature analysis and theory in economy, some systematic and comprehensive strategies have been put forward in order to improve hospital complaints management through field investigation about current situation of hospital complaints management and wishes and demands of patients. These strategies include complaints management principles, management departments and staff, disposal process, information management, continuous improvement of complaints management system and so on.Methods:The main sources of materials are related literature, 300 questionnaires of patients and their families and interviews information from 5 general hospitals in Xiamen, Fuzhou, Shanghai, Ningbo and Wuhan. In addition, there are some interview materials from health administrative departments in these areas. The main methods used in this article are literatures reviews, field research, expert advice and statistical analysis. Results:(1)Medical complaint characteristicsCurrently, patients can complain through face to face communication, telephone, suggestion box, e-mail, letters and network. Doctors and nurses are the main personnel been complained. The probability of complaints is higher in high-risk departments, such as surgery, obstetrics and gynecology departments, than other departments. There are many reasons leading to complaints. In hospitals respect, the causes include medical staff being lack of responsibility, professional quality, medical ethics, communication skills and hospital mismanagement. In patients respect, lack of medical common knowledge, unrealistic demands and poor ethics are the main causes. In society respect, imperfect social system and media misleading are the main reasons.(2)Medical complaints management system At present, there are 5 complaints management modes in China. The first one is unified single department handling complaints. The main form of this model is one department to accept all kinds of complaints, then distribute complaints to appropriate departments according to the aspects complaints involved after registration. The second one is several departments to accept complaints. The main form of this model is patient complaints to be received by different departments due to the content of complaints. Every related department will accept, investigate and make measures to deal with complaints. At last, the results will be fed back to patients. The third one is complaints to be handled by one unified department and several related departments. In this mode, hospitals establish a special department to accept complaints from patients. At the same time, several departments also participate in complaints handling. The fourth one is"third party management". The main form of this mode is that all complaints management will be entrusted to a third party. There are services agreement between hospitals and third parties, which provide some services, such as making measures to deal with medical complaints and medical disputes, medical liability insurance and claim, non-medical liability disputes claims and so on. The fifth mode is the dean of hospital responsible for complaints management. Complaints will be directly accepted and resolved by the head on the hospital.(3)Patients'cognition and claim of complaints management The survey found that patients'knowledge of complaints management in hospital is limited, patients have a high degree of cognition on the importance of improving complaints management, patients have a strong demand on systematical and normal mechanism to deal with complaints, patients are not satisfied with the status of complaints management in hospitals.Suggestion:(1)Emphasis on management of medical management. Hospitals should attach great importance to complaints and treat complaints management as important part of quality management system.(2)Following the basic principles of complaints management. Complaints management should be in the premise of"patient-centered", adhere to some principles, such as open ,fair and equitable, prompt response and convenient. (3)Grasping the key aspects of complaints management. On one hand, it is necessary to pay attention to complaints departments and staff. Every hospital should choose appropriate mode according to their own situation. It is better for the large hospital to set special departments to deal with complaints. Meanwhile, the staff should have following basic qualities, such as knowledge of medicine, management, law and interpersonal communication, good work ethic, strong responsibility, communication skills and ability to cope with different situations, being familiar with laws and regulations related to complaints management and hospital rules and regulations. On the other hand, hospitals should emphasize on complaints disposal process. The process mainly includes acceptance and treatment. At first, patients should be warmly received. At the same time, the staff should tell patients that complaints have been accepted and will be resolved in certain period. In addition, information about complaints should be recorded. In complaints handling, the first step is an initial assessment of complaints to determine the extent and type of complaints. The second step is investigation of complaints to verify the real situation. The third step is communication with patients for their consensus.(4)Strengthening the information management. Information management should be conducted mainly through archiving, periodic summary and analysis, reporting and so on.(5)Continually improving complaints management system. Hospitals should take measures to improve and perfect complaint disposal process, such as supervision, inspection and assessment.