Relationship between patient experience and hospital readmission: system-level survey with deterministic data linkage...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare quality assessment
• Public health research
• Data linkage methodologies

Background:

• Linking public healthcare data offers a comprehensive view of care quality.
• Positive patient experiences are believed to reflect good healthcare quality and may reduce readmissions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the relationship between patient experience and hospital readmission.
• To evaluate healthcare quality by linking anonymous survey data with administrative admissions data.

Main Methods:

• Anonymised individual-level records from seven acute public hospitals in Hong Kong were linked.
• A deterministic data linkage algorithm matched patient experience survey data with healthcare utilization records.
• Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models assessed associations between patient experience and hospital readmission.

Main Results:

• A 62.1% match rate was achieved for participants aged 45 and above.
• Higher overall inpatient experience scores were significantly associated with planned readmissions (adjusted OR=1.54).
• No significant association was found between patient experience scores and unplanned readmissions via the Accident and Emergency department.

Conclusions:

• Routine record linkage is feasible for evaluating healthcare quality with minimal patient confidentiality intrusion.
• Positive patient experiences are linked to planned hospital readmissions, potentially due to improved care coordination and discharge planning.
• Findings highlight the importance of patient-reported outcomes in assessing and improving healthcare quality.