patient experience

Patient experience can be categorized into eight key aspects:{{Cite web |title=What Is Patient Experience? |url=https://www.ahrq.gov/cahps/about-cahps/patient-experience/index.html |access-date=2024-12-15 |website=www.ahrq.gov |language=en-us}}

• Culturally Appropriate Care
• Care Coordination
• Courtesy and Respect
• Access to Care
• Communication with Clinicians
• Getting Information
• Shared Decision-Making
• Self-Management Support

These aspects collectively contribute to a patient-centered approach, emphasizing the importance of responsiveness and respect in healthcare delivery.

The terms patient experience and patient satisfaction are often used interchangeably but have distinct meanings:{{Cite journal |last1=Friedel |first1=Anna Lena |last2=Siegel |first2=Sonja |last3=Kirstein |first3=Cedric Fabian |last4=Gerigk |first4=Monja |last5=Bingel |first5=Ulrike |last6=Diehl |first6=Anke |last7=Steidle |first7=Oliver |last8=Haupeltshofer |first8=Steffen |last9=Andermahr |first9=Bernhard |last10=Chmielewski |first10=Witold |last11=Kreitschmann-Andermahr |first11=Ilonka |date=2023-03-08 |title=Measuring Patient Experience and Patient Satisfaction—How Are We Doing It and Why Does It Matter? A Comparison of European and U.S. American Approaches |journal=Healthcare |volume=11 |issue=6 |pages=797 |doi=10.3390/healthcare11060797 |doi-access=free |pmid=36981454 |issn=2227-9032|pmc=10048416 }}

• Patient experience focuses on whether specific processes or events in a patient's care journey met established standards. It asks objective questions such as whether a provider explained medical conditions clearly or whether the patient was involved in decision-making.
• Patient satisfaction is a subjective measure reflecting a patient’s perception of their care. It can be influenced by individual expectations, personal attitudes, or external factors. Two patients receiving identical care may report different satisfaction levels based on their differing expectations.

Patient experience is often reported in health research as also encompassing people's experiences of illness and injury outside of their experiences with health services, such as those experiences with family and friends, the influence of illness/injury over their capacity to engage in social activities or previously imagined futures,Bury, M. (1982). Chronic illness as biographical disruption. Sociology of health & illness, 4(2), 167-182. and even their engagement with the development of the guidelines that will inform their treatment.{{Cite journal |last1=Khodyakov |first1=Dmitry |last2=Denger |first2=Brian |last3=Sean Grant DPhil |last4=Armstrong |first4=Courtney |last5=Ann Martin |last6=Peay |first6=Holly |last7=Coulter |first7=Ian |last8=Hazlewood |first8=Glen |date=2019 |title=The RAND/PPMD Patient-Centeredness Method: a novel online approach to engaging patients and their representatives in guideline development |journal=European Journal for Person Centered Healthcare |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=470–475 |doi=10.5750/ejpch.v7i3.1750 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |pmc=8281319 |pmid=34277012}} For example, researchers might report of the patient experience of living with heart failureJeon, Y. H., Kraus, S. G., Jowsey, T., & Glasgow, N. J. (2010). The experience of living with chronic heart failure: a narrative review of qualitative studies. BMC health services research, 10(1), 77. or other chronic illnesses.Jeon, Y. H., Jowsey, T., Yen, L., Glasgow, N. J., Essue, B., Kljakovic, M., ... & Kraus, S. G. (2010). Achieving a balanced life in the face of chronic illness. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 16(1), 66-74.

File:Patient Experience Metrics (Godovykh & Pizam, 2023).png

Patient experience has become a key quality outcome for healthcare; measuring it is seen to support improvement in healthcare quality, governance, public accountability and patient choice.[http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/499 Benson T, Potts HWW (2014)]. A short generic patient experience measure: howRwe development and validation. BMC Health Services Research, 14, 499. doi:10.1186/s12913-014-0499-z Measures of patient experience arose from work in the 1980s and is now there use is now widescale. However, their effectiveness has been questionedHaugum M, Danielsen K, Iversen HH, Bjertnaes O: The use of data from national and other large-scale user experience surveys in local quality work: a systematic review.International J Qual Health Care 2014:1;14. doi:10.1093/intqhc/mzu077 and clinicians and managers may disagree about their use.Rozenblum R, Lisby M, Hockey P, Levtzion-Korach O, Salzberg C, Efrati N, Lipsitz S, Bates D: The patient satisfaction chasm: the gap between hospital management and frontline clinicians. BMJ Qual Saf 2013, 22:242-250 There is a general agreement in the literature that measuring patient experience can be accomplished using a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approach.

Effective measurement of patient experience is essential for improving healthcare quality. Key methods include:

Patient-reported experience measures gather information on patients' views of the healthcare received. Measuring patients' experiences may contribute to the monitoring of the quality of care and safety to the development of improvements of the quality of care, based on patients' preferences.{{Cite journal |last1=Kingsley |first1=Charlotte |last2=Patel |first2=Sanjiv |date=2017-04-01 |title=Patient-reported outcome measures and patient-reported experience measures |url=https://academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/17/4/137/2999278 |journal=BJA Education |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=137–144 |doi=10.1093/bjaed/mkw060 |issn=2058-5349}} These measures are most commonly in the form of validated questionnaires or surveys (such as the CAHPS, QPP/QPPS and PPE-15) and provide an objective way of enabling patients to describe their experiences of the quality of care received.{{Cite journal |last1=Beattie |first1=Michelle |last2=Murphy |first2=Douglas J. |last3=Atherton |first3=Iain |last4=Lauder |first4=William |date=2015-07-23 |title=Instruments to measure patient experience of healthcare quality in hospitals: a systematic review |journal=Systematic Reviews |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=97 |doi=10.1186/s13643-015-0089-0 |doi-access=free |issn=2046-4053 |pmc=4511995 |pmid=26202326}}

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys are critical tools for assessing patient-centered care.{{Cite journal |last=Holt |first=Jeana M |date=2018-08-12 |title=Patient Experience in Primary Care: A Systematic Review of CG-CAHPS Surveys |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/2374373518793143 |journal=Journal of Patient Experience |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=93–102 |doi=10.1177/2374373518793143 |pmid=31218253 |pmc=6558944 |issn=2374-3735}} These standardized instruments ask patients about their experiences, such as communication with providers, staff responsiveness, and ease of accessing information. The surveys do not measure satisfaction but focus on reporting patient experiences to ensure consistency and reliability across healthcare systems.

Other tools, such as the Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire and NHS Patient Surveys, gather standardized feedback on aspects like cleanliness, courtesy, and timeliness.{{Cite journal |last1=Reeves |first1=R |last2=Seccombe |first2=I |date=2008-12-01 |title=Do patient surveys work? The influence of a national survey programme on local quality-improvement initiatives |url=https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2007.022749 |journal=Quality and Safety in Health Care |volume=17 |issue=6 |pages=437–441 |doi=10.1136/qshc.2007.022749 |pmid=19064659 |issn=1475-3898|pmc=2602592 }} Surveys provide large datasets for benchmarking and comparative analysis but are limited by memory bias and predefined topics.

Interviews provide qualitative insights, uncovering emotional and interpersonal factors influencing patient perceptions. They are valuable for exploring sensitive issues, though they require significant time and resources.

These sessions bring together patients with shared experiences to explore common themes.{{Cite journal |last1=Lehoux |first1=Pascale |last2=Poland |first2=Blake |last3=Daudelin |first3=Genevieve |date=October 2006 |title=Focus group research and "the patient's view" |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.05.016 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=63 |issue=8 |pages=2091–2104 |doi=10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.05.016 |pmid=16797811 |issn=0277-9536|url-access=subscription }} They are effective for testing new healthcare initiatives but require skilled facilitation to ensure all voices are heard.

This method captures real-time data on patients’ emotions and reactions during their care journey, reducing recall bias.{{Citation |last1=Larson |first1=Reed |title=The Experience Sampling Method |date=2014 |work=Flow and the Foundations of Positive Psychology |pages=21–34 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_2 |access-date=2024-12-15 |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-94-017-9087-1 |last2=Csikszentmihalyi |first2=Mihaly|doi=10.1007/978-94-017-9088-8_2 |url-access=subscription }} Mobile apps and text prompts facilitate this approach, though frequent prompts may feel intrusive.

Tools such as heart rate variability monitoring, facial expression analysis, and eye-tracking provide objective data on stress, comfort, and engagement. Though resource-intensive, these techniques offer unique insights into patient experiences.{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Michelle |last2=Mady |first2=Noor |last3=Linnaranta |first3=Outi |date=September 2021 |title=Utility of Psychophysiological Metrics in Guiding Treatment of Trauma Symptoms: A Systematic Review |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbct.2021.01.004 |journal=Journal of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=249–266 |doi=10.1016/j.jbct.2021.01.004 |issn=2589-9791|url-access=subscription }}

Using natural language processing (NLP), this method analyzes patient reviews and open-ended feedback to identify trends and priorities for improvement. It is particularly valuable for capturing insights from patients who do not participate in traditional surveys.

By testing specific interventions (e.g., empathy training for staff), experimental designs evaluate the impact of targeted strategies on patient experience. This approach supports evidence-based decision-making but requires careful planning and ethical considerations.

By utilizing a combination of objective and subjective interactions, perceptions, affect, and outcome metrics, healthcare providers can effectively capture the complex and dynamic nature of patient experience. This multifaceted approach leverages the strengths of various measurement methods, resulting in more comprehensive insights and enabling targeted improvements in patient-centered care.

• Customer experience
• [https://www.cms.gov/data-research/research/consumer-assessment-healthcare-providers-systems Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems]
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Friends and Family Test
• National Health Service
• Health care

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Category:Health care quality

Category:Patient advocacy