Find improvement at the junction of patient experience and clinical performance

Hospitals can improve their performance in a consumer-driven environment by adopting core tenets based on the intersections of patient experience and clinical performance, according to a new market report by Press Ganey Holdings.

The 2016 Strategic Insights Report, "Performance Redefined: As Health Care Moves from Volume to Value, the Streams of Quality are Coming Together," includes findings derived by analyzing propriety data and results of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, according to an announcement from Press Ganey.

"As 2016 unfolds, the turmoil that has characterized healthcare in recent years is suddenly looking less like chaos and more like what it actually is: major change," according to the paper. "Competition on value is beginning to drive this evolving marketplace, and performance is being redefined with an eye toward what matters to patients, both financially and in terms of quality."

To redefine performance goals based on consumer value, healthcare leaders need to embrace the following core principals, the report says:

  • Put patients at the center of care and make the reduction of suffering the clear overarching purpose for the organization's work
  • Commit to a goal of zero harm and articulate that no other goal is adequate when it comes to the safety of care
  • Recognize the interdependency of safety, quality and patient experience and pursue them together
  • Adopt an integrated balanced scorecard that measures dimensions of performance separately, but respond to them collectively
  • Transform culture and leadership
  • Enhance accountability and execution to fulfill good intentions

Other organizations such as the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare are trying to help hospital executives track their progress in improving organizational strategies and performance, with a goal of achieving zero harm. Leaders fill out a detailed questionnaire and receive a report detailing strengths and areas for improvement, FierceHealthcare previously reported.

Hospitals also can gain insight into the results of HCAHPS and other patient satisfaction surveys by determining which business outcome to focus on, FierceHealthcare has reported. Additional research into factors that influence how patients respond to specific measures and identifying clinical and nonclinical factors that influence patient satisfaction can help leaders pinpoint areas of improvement.

To learn more:
- read the paper
- download the report (.pdf)