Nurse-first triage services play a pivotal role in health care, especially in managing patient calls, providing medical advice, and determining appropriate levels of care.
One metric that can be used to evaluate nurse-first triage partners is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). But what is NPS, and why does it matter when choosing a partner?
What is NPS?
Net Promoter Score is a management tool that measures customer loyalty and satisfaction based on the question: “How likely are you to recommend our service to a friend or colleague?” Respondents rate their likelihood on a scale from 0 to 10, categorizing them as:
- Promoters (score 9-10) who are highly satisfied customers and likely to recommend the service to others
- Passives (score 7-8) who are moderately satisfied and may easily switch to competitors, or
- Detractors (score 0-6) who are dissatisfied and may even spread negative word-of-mouth.
The NPS is then calculated by subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters. NPS is widely used across various industries, including healthcare, to assess and improve customer experiences.
A high NPS is generally considered desirable and indicative of a strong customer base and positive sentiment towards a service. The creators of NPS, Bain & Company, suggest a score above 0 is good, above 20 is favorable and an NPS above 50 is excellent. Conduit measures the Net Promoter Score for their organizational clients.
Conduit’s NPS score ranks above excellent at 67.
This indicates that the vast majority of Conduit’s organizational clients are highly likely to recommend a friend or colleague to Conduit.
Why NPS Matters in Choosing a Nurse-First Triage Provider
Nurse-first triage providers are often the first point of contact for patients seeking medical assistance, making their performance crucial in shaping patients’ overall healthcare experiences. Nurse-first triage providers serve as an extension of your organization and, therefore, can impact many factors, including:
- Client satisfaction and retention: Choosing a nurse-first triage partner with a high NPS score suggests that the triage provider is focused on delivering a positive experience to their clients. This often translates also to a positive experience for your patients when they encounter the nurse triage provider and hence can influence their overall satisfaction leading to increased retention and a competitive edge.
- Operational efficiency and cost savings: A well-performing nurse triage service with high NPS scores indicates efficient operations and effective resource utilization. By efficiently managing patient calls and providing timely assistance, nurse-first triage can help reduce unnecessary emergency department visits, optimize healthcare resources, and ultimately lower the organization’s overall costs.
- Quality of care: A high NPS indicates a focus on providing service that delivers quality care that aligns with your patients’ needs and expectations.
In an effort to improve continuously, Conduit also measures satisfaction of its organizational clients with an impressive average score of 97.4% when asking their clients how they would rate their overall satisfaction with Conduit.
They also evaluate the customer effort score, measuring how easy it is to implement a solution with Conduit Health Partners.
Conduit’s clients averaged 94.9% in how easy it is to work with Conduit.
While NPS, overall satisfaction, and customer effort scores are evaluated for Conduit’s organizational client, Conduit also surveys the callers on a 1-5 Likert scale to evaluate the end-user experience.
NPS and other key performance indicator metrics play a critical role in the decision-making process when selecting a nurse-first triage provider. By prioritizing nurse-triage providers with high NPS and customer satisfaction ratings, organizations have the opportunity to enhance their patients’ satisfaction, drive operational efficiency, manage risk, and strengthen organizational reputation. It enables organizations to be confident that they are choosing a nurse-first triage provider that is committed to delivering exceptional patient-centered care and driving positive healthcare outcomes.
