What is Patient Experience and How Can You Improve and Measure It? A SPECIAL REPORT PREPARED BY US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH

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1 What is Patient Experience and How Can You Improve and Measure It? A SPECIAL REPORT PREPARED BY US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH

2 When you provide medical care whether it is in someone s home, a doctor s office, or a hospital, providing a superior patient experience is likely one of your top priorities, and with new regulations in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, the patient experience of care is more important than ever and can have an affect on your bottom line. So, what exactly is patient experience and how can you measure and improve it? This resource book, prepared specifically for health care professionals and administrators, will help your agency define, improve and measure patient experience and satisfaction. US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH USHCRC.COM (405) RNELSON@USHCRC.COM

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4 What is patient experience? Why is it so important? Studies have shown that good patient experience can be associated with important and positive clinical outcomes including: A good patient experience has a positive correlation to processes of care for both prevention and disease management. For example, diabetic patients demonstrate greater self-management skills and quality of life when they report positive interactions with their providers. A good patient experience has correlations with adherence to care plans and medical advice. This is especially true for patients with chronic conditions. Despite this, health care officials that have been surveyed don t agree on what exactly PATIENTS WITH POSITIVE CARE EXPERIENCES OFTEN HAVE BETTER HEALTH OUTCOMES. contributes to the patient experience. In a 2009 HealthLeaders Survey, 34.5% perceived patient experience as patient-centered care, 29% perceived patient experience as an orchestrated set of activities that is customized for each patient, and 23% identified patient experience as providing excellent customer service. With the various views on what makes up patient experience, it s no surprise that health care providers are battling to provide exceptional patient experience. PATIENT EXPERIENCE IS THE SUM OF ALL INTER- ACTIONS THAT INFLUENCE PATIENT PERCEPTIONS ACROSS THE CONTINUUM OF CARE. US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH USHCRC.COM (405) RNELSON@USHCRC.COM

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6 Why should I measure and improve patient experience? In the face of multiple priorities and limited resources, agencies may question the value of measuring and improving the patient s experience with care. The main forces driving the need to improve the patient care experience include, but are not limited to, public reporting of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Survey performance scores on key domains of care, growing demands of accountability from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and increasing expectations from consumers. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 includes provisions for measuring and reporting patient experience of care. CMS has developed the Home Health Compare Web site, which includes measures of quality outcomes and patient experience of care performance measures that come from the CAHPS Survey. The family of CAHPS Surveys includes HCAHPS serving hospitals, HHCAHPS serving home health agencies, ICH CAHPS for in-center hemodialysis, CGCAHPS serving clinicians and groups, and the CAHPS Hospice Survey. The CAHPS Surveys are a great tool to utilize in tracking a patient s care experience because the surveys summarize patient interactions with care providers and their levels of satisfaction with and loyalty to their care provider. That is why so many health care officials use these measures to design strategies to improve patient experience. US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH USHCRC.COM (405) RNELSON@USHCRC.COM

7 How can I improve the experience and satisfaction of my patients? The first step to improving patient experience is to measure that experience. Accurately measuring patients experience of care can reveal important system problems and gaps in communication that may have broad quality, safety, and efficiency implications for your agency. US Health Care Research can help your agency measure patient experience by tracking whether or not you are consistently satisfying your patients at an acceptable level. Once this is determined, you can use USHC s proprietary quality improvement tool SatMap Analysis to identify the factors important to changes in patient satisfaction. SatMap ascertains patient satisfaction by determining which elements of patient care have high or low performance relative to importance. This methodology generates significant and actionable insights into specific areas of care in which your agency needs to focus its efforts in order to improve patient experience, and in which areas your agency is excelling. By combining the importance of different areas of the patient care experience and your agency s performance in those areas, the SatMap Analysis will allow your agency to prioritize areas for improvement in patient experience. US HEALTH CARE RESEARCH USHCRC.COM (405) RNELSON@USHCRC.COM

8 WHY USHC? US Health Care Research is a Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved survey vendor for the HCAHPS and HHCAHPS Surveys. At USHC, we bring together more than 20 years of experience conducting patient experience and satisfaction surveys to provide meaningful insights for health care organizations throughout the United States. Our focus is on improving the patient experience of care. Our analysis and reporting will directly help organizations: Track whether or not the organization is consistently satisfying its patients at an acceptable level; Identify the factors responsible for changes in patient satisfaction; and Design strategies that will improve patient satisfaction. If you re ready to improve the experience and satisfaction of your patients, contact us today at (405) , or rnelson@ushcrc.com. Improving patient experience of care begins here.