The Patient Experience and Patient Satisfaction: Measurement of a Complex Dynamic

The concept of patient experience is surprisingly complex and generally linked with patient satisfaction. As reimbursement and performance policies have become more normative within healthcare, the patient experience has become a metric to measure payment systems for quality. However, we still have much to learn about the concept of patient experience and its influence on how patients report satisfaction with their care. This article discusses challenges for measurement of the patient experience, such as lack of consistent terminology and multiple contributing factors, by reviewing a brief selection of selected literature to help readers appreciate the complexity of measurement. Several examples from clinical practice will consider regulation, organizational environments, and research that can offer clarity around important factors that impact a patient’s experience and subsequent satisfaction with the provision of care.