As emergency departments are arguably one of the most complex clinical settings in healthcare, it's important for administrators not to lose sight of the patient experience amid changing regulatory landscapes and the transition to value-based care, according to a new report from Press Ganey.
To assess trends in patient experience outcomes in the ED, researchers examined ED CAHPS and Press Ganey patient experience scores for the first half of 2017. Researchers then identified aspects of care most highly associated with patients saying they would recommend the ED in which they were treated.
Here are three aspects of care that, when achieved together, most drive a positive patient experience in the ED, beginning with the most influential.
1. Patient perception of staff caring about them as individuals.
2. The perception of being sufficiently informed about treatment by physicians.
3. Whether patients felt they were given information regarding care delays.
Ninety-six percent of patients who experienced these three aspects of care in tandem said they'd recommend the ED. Additionally, researchers identified the combination of experiences most likely to influence a patient to not recommend the ED.
"The worst-case scenario would be for a patient not to feel that staff cared about them, not to experience courtesy from their doctor and not to receive information about how to care for themselves at home," wrote the report's authors. "The data indicate that 19 percent of patients experienced this set of circumstances, of which only 9 percent would recommend the organization. Helping ED staff understand the key behaviors that can build or erode trust in the care being delivered makes the process of meeting patients' needs more concrete and provides important context for engagement in improvement initiatives."
To download the Press Ganey report, click here.
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