Are you focusing on the right factors to improve the patient experience?
Effective communication with patients and families, comfortable diagnostic and testing experiences, care coordination during and between encounters, and engaged staff are key factors that influence the patient experience throughout the care continuum. But which factors are most important?
Siemens Healthineers and The Beryl Institute conducted a study to identify the most important factors influencing the patient experience. Study participants included 175 patients and their family members, along with more 1,100 patient experience professionals. 294 of these professionals were from high-performing units based on HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) patient satisfaction scores.
The study asked participants to rate more than 35 different factors. In addition to those factors mentioned above, personal treatment of patients and families, teamwork among the care team, pain management, and education were identified as key influencers on patient experience.
The study results are summarized on a scorecard that shows the most influential factors along the patient journey. This scorecard can be used to gauge system-wide patient experience efforts and to identify gaps and potential areas for improvement.
Key takeaways
- Many hospitals have started patient experience programs; now they are focused on identifying the priorities and practices that lead to sustainable success
- The most influential factors in improving the patient experience were identified by about 300 high-performing patient experience institutions along with almost 200 patients and family members
- The influence factors are shown on an easy-to-use scorecard to gauge your system-wide patient experience efforts as well as to identify gaps and potential areas for improvement
About Jason Wolf
Jason A. Wolf, PhD, CPXP is a passionate champion of and recognized expert on patient experience excellence, organization culture, and high performance in healthcare. He is president and founder of The Beryl Institute and founding editor of the Patient Experience Journal (PXJ).
The Beryl Institute is a global community of practice dedicated to improving the patient experience through collaboration and shared knowledge.
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