Journal of Patient Experience

Patient attire is paramount to patient’s dignity and overall experience. In this pilot study and in concert with a designer and clinician, we developed, patented, tested, and evaluated patient and provider preference and experience with a novel patient gowning system. Our objective was to survey obstetrics and gynecology hospital inpatients’ and providers’ experience with a novel hospital attire system; the patient access linen system (PALS).

Patients were provided a PALS item at the beginning of a provider’s shift or at the start of an outpatient visit. Following their use of the PALS item, the patients and providers completed a separate multiple-choice and free-response question survey. Surveys were completed by patients each time a PALS item was returned to the provider for processing.

Patients and providers had a significantly positive experience with the PALS. The majority of patients had positive responses to each question about comfort and function of the PALS system, showed consistent preference for the PALS in comparison to a traditional hospital gown and demonstrated that comfort of hospital clothing is a priority for patients. The majority of providers found PALS easy to use when compared to the traditional gown with regard to clinical examinations.

Patients in our pilot prioritized hospital attire as a key element in their overall hospital experience, and both patients and providers preferred the PALS system over the traditional hospital gown. Further study is needed on patient attire and evaluation of the potential clinical impact of the PALS.

Empirical evidence supports the contention that implementing caring nurse behaviors results in improved patient experience; however, previous studies find differences between patient and nurse perceptions of caring.

Good patient experience is positively related to desired clinical and financial outcomes. Nurse caring is a critical component in the patient experience.

The purposes of this project were to evaluate the congruency between nurse and patient perceptions of nurse caring in a long-term acute care hospital and to determine how much patient perception of nurse caring changes over time.

The study employed mixed methods using a triangulation strategy in which quantitative data from patients and qualitative data from nurses were collected simultaneously and compared for interpretation.

Time affected patient perception of caring significantly. Patients and nurses disagreed about the extent to which nurses ask patients what they know about their illnesses, help them deal with bad feelings, and make them feel comfortable.

Patients and nurses do not always agree about the quality of caring behaviors, but exposure to nurses over time positively affects patient perception of nurse caring.

Although patient satisfaction is increasingly used to rate hospitals, it is unclear how patient satisfaction is associated with health outcomes. We sought to define the relationship of self-reported patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

Retrospective cross-sectional analysis using regression analyses and generalized linear modeling.

Utilizing the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Database (2010-2014), patients who had responses to survey questions related to satisfaction were identified.

Among the 9166 patients, representing 106 million patients, satisfaction was rated as optimal (28.2%), average (61.1%), and poor (10.7%). Main Outcome Measures: We sought to define the relationship of self-reported patient satisfaction and health outcomes.

Patients who were younger, male, black/African American, with Medicaid insurance, as well as patients with lower socioeconomic status were more likely to report poor satisfaction (all P < .001). In the adjusted model, physical health score was not associated with an increased odds of poor satisfaction (1.42 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.88-2.28); however, patients with a poor mental health score or ≥2 emergency department visits were more likely to report poor overall satisfaction (3.91, 95% CI: 2.34-6.5; 2.24, 95% CI: 1.48-3.38, respectively).

Poor satisfaction was associated with certain unmodifiable patient-level characteristics, as well as mental health scores. These data suggest that patient satisfaction is a complex metric that can be affected by more than provider performance.

Patient satisfaction surveys are vital to measuring a patient’s experience of care. How scores of patients managed by emergency medicine (EM) residents change as residents progress through training is not known.

To evaluate whether EM residents’ patient satisfaction scores improve as residency training progresses, similar to clinical skill improvement.

A retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated the correlation of patient satisfaction scores with EM resident year of training from 2015 through 2017. We evaluated for a change in score over time for the 4 “physician questions” and the “overall” score.

We evaluated 1684 Press Ganey surveys linked to 40 EM resident physicians during the study period. The mean top box scores for the 4 physician questions (concern for comfort [P = .72], courtesy [P = .55], informative about treatment [P = .46], and listening [P = .91]) and overall assessment of emergency department care (P = .51) were not significantly improved over the course of resident.

We did not observe a difference in EM residents’ patient experience scores as their level of training progressed. Comprehensive patient experience training for residents might be needed.

Trend in morbidity and mortality due to noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) is rising because of poor control status. Medication nonadherence is one of the most common and modifiable causes of inadequate control status.

To examine the barriers in drug adherence among NCD patients in rural Puducherry.

This qualitative study includes in-depth and key informant interview conducted among 6 NCD patients and 4 health-care providers. Interviews were audio-recorded, and transcript was prepared in verbatim format. Thematic content analysis was done to derive the categories and themes.

Major barriers for nonadherence to medications found were stress, substance abuse, forgetfulness, lack of family support, and high case load of health facilities. Corrective measures suggested to address the barriers were to provide health education to patients and family members, awareness campaigns in community, and health education sessions at the clinic.

Psychological factors such as stress, social isolation, and negligence are major barriers for drug adherence. Health education session at community and health system is needed to improve the adherence.

In 2014, Dudley Group of Hospitals (DGH) underwent an organizational change that necessitated closure of their Home Parenteral Nutrition (HPN) service. University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT) transitioned 50 patients from DGH into their HPN service. The transition model included communication with patients, communication between centers (development of an HPN Patient Passport), and rapid follow-up on transition ensuring clinical care continued uninterrupted.

Evaluate patient experience and their level of satisfaction with our HPN transition model.

A 19-point, mixed mode paper-based questionnaire was developed. Questionnaires were posted to 42 surviving patients still receiving HPN.

Response rate: 67%. Communication with patients: The transition was discussed with them, and they had appropriate contact details during the process—94%. Patients informed of patient transition meetings—97%. Attendance at meetings: DGH 89%, UHBFT 55%. Ongoing care at UHBFT: 86% very satisfied and 11% satisfied. Overall rating of the transition process: 79% very satisfied and 14% satisfied. Friends and Family Test: 82% “extremely likely” and 18% “likely” to recommend our services.

The transition model used was successful, with the majority of patients “very satisfied” with how the transition was managed and their ongoing care. Effective communication with patients and between the 2 centers was the key to success. To our knowledge, this is the first report of transition of care for HPN patients. It is proposed that this model may be used by other centers to plan for future HPN service transitions where necessary.

Preferences of service users is an important consideration for developing health-care services. This study aimed to assess the experiences of the patients with substance use disorders who were admitted to a tertiary health-care facility in India.

This cross-sectional sectional study recruited adult inpatients who stayed for a period of 7 days or more. The Picker Patient Experience questionnaire (PPE-15) was used to gather information about the views of the patients about the care received at the center.

Responses were available from 113 inpatients. Majority of the participants were males and were dependent on opioids. The experience was generally positive about being treated with respect and dignity and access to information. The participants were most satisfied with opportunity being given to discuss anxiety and fear about the condition or treatment (91.2% positive response) and least satisfied with differences in responses from doctors and nurses (43.4% positive response). Further attention seemed desired about communication with the staff and patients’ involvement in their own treatment-related decision-making.

Efforts need to be made to involve patients in their own treatment-related decision-making and to improve communication with the treatment team. This might lead to better involvement in treatment process, which could enhance the treatment outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Although assessing patient satisfaction ensures quality assurance, compliance, and better effects of therapy, patient satisfaction studies are lacking within the Ghanaian physiotherapy domain.

To ascertain patients’ satisfaction with physiotherapy services and evaluate factors that influence satisfaction levels at the trauma and orthopedic directorate of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

A cross-sectional survey was done, and systematic random sampling was used to recruit participants. One-hundred twenty (120) patients participated in the study. Data were collected using an adapted structured patient satisfaction questionnaire. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 24. Descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests were performed.

The mean age of participants was 39.9 ± 15.8 years. They comprised 48 (40%) females and 72 (60%) males. The most common cause of patient admission was road traffic accident (71.7%). All dimensions of satisfaction assessed were highly rated (>90%). Majority of the participants reported that they were satisfied (95.7%) and compliant (91.6%) with the physiotherapy treatment. Respect shown by therapist (98%) and courtesy and friendliness (97%) were the most rated indices; however, some respondents had uncertainties pertaining to patient involvement in decision-making. The majority of participants also reported that due to their satisfaction, compliance came naturally (75.9%) and reported compliance had a significant association with satisfaction (P = .02). Age was also found to influence satisfaction (P = .04).

Patient satisfaction with physiotherapy services rendered at the inpatient facility was high, and satisfaction reportedly translated into ease with compliance.

The National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) of Nigeria was designed to eliminate known cultural, physical, and resource-related barriers to quality health-care access. Although choice of primary health-care facility (PHF) remains in the domain of the scheme enrollees, little is known about factors influencing their choice. Hence, the study of the perception of factors influencing PHF choice among NHIS enrollees of a northwest Nigerian hospital becomes imperative.

This was a cross-sectional study of 284 principal enrollees randomly selected from patients attending the NHIS clinic of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria, using a designed, pretested, investigator-administered questionnaire. Their sociodemographics and factors influencing their choice of the clinic were assessed.

Respondents’ mean age was 40.9 ± 9.0 years and they were predominantly males (83.1%) with tertiary education. Median distance between their homes and PHF was 7.6 ± 12.5 km. Most respondents were aware of other accredited PHFs in the city and believed it was their right to choose a PHF. Among the various factors influencing their choice of index PHF were better functioning equipment (83.5% of respondents), more specialists/trained health workers (78.5%), ease in receiving specialist care (69.4%), and better overall quality of care (78.9%).

There are multiple factors associated with enrollee choice of PHF in this study. The NHIS enrollees value the presence of functioning equipment/facilities, ease in receiving specialist care, and overall high quality of care in their choice of PHF. Improving enrollee enrollment at accredited PHF may require addressing these factors.