Overview and Summary: The Patient Experience: Capturing the Intricacies of Contributing Factors

Abstract

Working as a patient experience champion is a dream come true for me as both a nurse and a leader. Looking back, my desire to provide an exceptional experience started when I was a teen working in a long term care center as a certified nursing assistant; I just didn't know that was what I was doing at the time. What I did understand was this: when I anticipated and met the patients' needs, they were happier and my day seemed more meaningful. This provided a very simple measure of satisfaction at a time when patient satisfaction data was nonexistent. We all know healthcare providers who epitomize a high performing, caring individual who each of us hope to encounter when receiving care. Some of these individuals come by it naturally, while others have refined a skill set to achieve that level of caring and compassion. Regardless, we have all excellent service in some form, whether in healthcare or another industry, and we know what it feels like to receive excellent service.I experienced healthcare highs and lows through my own 6 month-event leading to a diagnosis of a chronic condition with unknown etiology and also through experiences of family members: two sisters diagnosed with breast cancer and a father going through open heart surgery. What became very clear to me, as my family and I moved through services in various healthcare organizations over a 15 year span, was that progress toward providing an exceptional experience every time occurred slower than one would expect, but when healthcare organizations got it right, phenomenal experience was the phrase that came to mind. As a patient experience leader, my observations over my career are much the same as those viewed through my eyes as a patient and family member. Yes, overall progress has been slow. However, as a healthcare leader, I understand the complexities that exist.The progress, though slow to date, is currently showing promise in many respects. Conferences focusing solely on the patient experience are readily available, senior leaders are listing the patient experience as one of the top organizational priorities, employee evaluations often include patient satisfaction metrics, and data transparency is improving. There are many more areas of advancement in the patient experience realm and all of them demonstrate a heightened awareness of the integral part patient experience plays in the overall health of an organization through reimbursement, loyalty and outcomes. Furthermore, movement in organizations toward tackling the obstacles limiting exceptional experiences is gathering momentum, as evidenced by the addition of new patient experience leader roles at the senior leader level and additional dedicated employee and financial resources. One would expect a quicker pace in progress with these additional resources and increased knowledge gathered and shared within the industry.At a recent conference, I heard numerous references to the human-centered experience versus the commonly used patient-centered experience terminology. I gave this phrase significant consideration over the following days. Using this phrase makes sense, as this language challenges us to remove the patient label from those we serve. This shift reminds us that we are interacting with another human being and not simply managing a patient or condition. Looking only at an individual as a patient prevents us from looking past the disease, condition, treatment, or service into the space that supports the entire human being. Improving the patient experience is a delicate balance between embracing standardization and data analysis while maintaining a laser focus on the individuality of every person receiving care or services.To that extent, the body of knowledge for the patient experience is growing immeasurably. The following authors present information to further patient experience knowledge, encourage future research, and promote dialogue about challenges to meeting patient and family needs while also supporting those providing care. …