Money back Guarantee!

We’ve all seen hundreds of commercials of companies advertising products and services with a money back guarantee. The Men’s Warehouse, for example, has been guaranteeing to men across the globe for over a decade, “You’re going to like the way you look; I guarantee it!” But to date, no one has made such a “guarantee” in the healthcare industry. Buying a suit is not exactly like getting your gallbladder removed.

Geisinger Health System President and CEO, Dr. David Feinberg, is doing just that. Their health care system has developed an application, called the Geisinger ProvenExperience, which can be downloaded onto a smartphone. After a procedure, a patient is given a code for the condition that was treated. With that code, they can enter any feedback they have on the services provided; and then they can request a refund if they are not fully satisfied. Most remarkably, the request for a refund is based on the judgment of the recipient, not based on the judgment of the provider(s). At a recent public meeting, Dr. Feinberg said of the new program, “We’re going to do everything right. That’s our job, that’s our promise to you…and you’re the judge. If you don’t think so, we’re going to apologize, we’re going to try to fix it for the next guy, and as a small token of appreciation we’re going to give you some money back.”

Although there are many skeptics about whether or not the program will be successful, much less viable, Dr. Feinberg contends that early feedback on the program has shown that most patients don’t actually want their money back. Instead, if their needs have not been met, they have found that most just want a sincere apology and a commitment to make it better for others. He also contests that even if this is not the best or only approach to improving healthcare (quickly), we should all feel compelled that we have to do something about our repeated failures in being able to meet patients’ expectations in quality and/or experience of their care; and because no other industry works this way, other than healthcare.

So this move to allow patients to ask for a “refund” seems both extremely appealing and extremely risky. But for certain it seems it will greatly enhance the trust of the patients and their families in the Geisinger Health System. So I, among others, will eagerly follow the results of this program; while getting a cholecystectomy is not the same as buying a men’s suit, I do hope that someday I will be able to say to every patient entering my healthcare system, that before they leave, “You’re going to like the way you feel; I guarantee it!”