Capturing patient experience to improve healthcare services

Area of Science:

• Healthcare research
• Patient experience studies
• Health services research

Background:

• National patient satisfaction surveys have been conducted by the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK for over 15 years.
• While valuable for trend analysis and inter-service comparisons, 'satisfaction' presents conceptual challenges and lacks clear data collection objectives.
• A transition towards measuring patient experience instead of satisfaction is recognized as beneficial for enhancing healthcare services and patient outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define patient experience in the context of healthcare.
• To explore diverse methodologies for collecting patient experience data.
• To highlight the utility of qualitative approaches in capturing nuanced patient perspectives.

Main Methods:

• Literature review on patient satisfaction and patient experience concepts.
• Analysis of existing national survey data and methodologies.
• Discussion of qualitative data collection techniques (e.g., interviews, focus groups).

Main Results:

• Patient experience offers a more actionable metric than patient satisfaction for service improvement.
• Qualitative methods provide rich, in-depth insights into patient journeys and perceptions.
• Clear definitions and appropriate data collection strategies are crucial for meaningful patient feedback.

Conclusions:

• The shift from patient satisfaction to patient experience is a positive development in healthcare quality assessment.
• Understanding and measuring patient experience is key to driving meaningful improvements in healthcare delivery and patient care.
• Qualitative approaches are essential for a comprehensive understanding of patient experience.