Digital Maturity as a Strategy for Advancing Patient Experience in US Hospitals.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Digital Health
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Patient experience is a key health system performance indicator.
• Digital health adoption accelerated post-COVID-19, but its impact on patient experience is unclear.
• Understanding the digital health-patient experience link is vital for healthcare quality improvement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between hospital digital maturity and patient experience outcomes.
• To analyze the impact of digital transformation on patient satisfaction in US hospitals.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study utilizing US hospital data.
• Patient experience measured via HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) survey data.
• Digital maturity assessed using the HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) EMRAM (Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model) Maturity Model.

Main Results:

• Higher digital maturity in US hospitals is linked to improved patient experience.
• Specific improvements observed in communication with nurses, doctors, and regarding medicines/therapies.
• Significant differences in patient experience noted between teaching and nonteaching, and urban and rural hospitals.

Conclusions:

• Advanced digital transformation positively impacts patient experience outcomes.
• Digital health strategies should consider patient communication to enhance satisfaction.
• Further research can guide effective digital transformation for improved health system performance.