The Patient Experience is NOT a Fad

The Beryl Institute just released a benchmarking study on "The State of Patient Experience 2017: A Return to Purpose.” The Beryl Institute defines the patient experience as “the sum of all interactions shaped by an organization’s culture, that influence patient perceptions across the continuum of care."

As in previous reports, the purpose of this study was to determine what healthcare organizations are doing to improve the Patient Experience across the continuum of care. Bystanders who thought the patient experience was just another fad, will see it's here to stay. Twenty-six percent of healthcare organizations say they have a well established patient experience focus; 56% say they have an established plan and are making progress.

The findings show the top three priorities in an organization’s patient experience efforts are:

1. Quality/safety/service
2. Employee engagement/employee satisfaction
3. Cost management/reduction

The Top three motivating factors driving patient experience efforts are:

1. Government-mandated surveys (HCAHPS)
2. Leadership
3. Becoming provider of choice/community reputation

Interesting Highlights:

Practices, more so than hospitals, have a formalized definition of the patient experience with a dedicated staff member who spends at least 33% of their time improving the patient experience.

And to quote an excerpt from the report, "For the first time, the elements of the integrated view of patient experience emerge showing the linkages of quality and safety with the practices around communication and rounding and elevating the acknowledgement of engagement of both employees and patients and families."

That statement is a lot to digest in one read, but in simple terms it's what POS has known all along, improved patient communication will improve the patient experience.