Patient Experience Journey Lacks Defined Direction

On the other hand, nearly half (46%) say that HCAHPS is an effective measure of patient experience. "It is an effective measure of patient perceptions but should be only one of several listening tools employed by the hospital," says one. Another survey respondent offers, "HCAHPS scores help caregivers to prioritize and reach goals for patient experience."

Communication and consistency
Every single patient-staff interaction is a patient experience opportunity. The team responsible for patient experience should identify interactions that are predictable, such a patient arrivals, rounds, meal delivery, medication, preparation for procedures, and so on, and decide which training and education activities are appropriate for which staff groups.

It may be easy to underestimate the complexity of training for patient experience, since the domain for patient experience is so large and the responsibility is widely distributed. Synergies with other priorities such as clinical quality, safety, and patient care must be found, and can be found.

Reprint HLR0812-3

This article appears in the August 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.

See Also:

Developing High-Quality Patient-Centered Care

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