Patient Experience:Why It Matters and How To Improve it.

A Qualitative Data Analysis of Patient Experience Survey in The Obstetrics & Gynecology Emergency Department In Alwakra Hospital At Hamad Medical Corporation Qatar.

Introduction

Patient experience refers to the overall experience a patient has with a healthcare system, from the moment they enter the facility to their discharge. It encompasses everything from the quality of care to the level of communication and empathy demonstrated by providers.

 the patient interacts with health services is an important component of determining the quality of care. The patient experience provides a clear example of a combined approach to measuring patient expectations and tracking changes resulting from improvement initiatives.

Background :

Most of obstetrics and gynecology patients are admitted through the emergency department, which means that focusing on improving patient experiences in the obstetrics and gynecology emergency department can have a positive impact on patient perceptions and expectations of the quality of healthcare services provided at the hospital

The Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department team designed the Patient Experience Program to meet the expectations of our patients. This program allows patients to provide their feedback and suggestions regarding our health services, so that we can enhance our ability to meet their needs and encourage their participation in shared decision-making. Through this program, patients can provide us with their views on our services and how we can improve them. We also aim to provide them with the information and support they need to actively participate in their care and make informed decisions about their health.

 

By developing an effective patient experience program, we are confident that we will be able to improve practice, increase satisfaction among patients and caregivers, and ultimately, improve patient loyalty and satisfaction.

Methods:

The patient feedback was collected through a variety of means, including an online survey, face-to-face engagement, and documented compliments and complaints. To ensure the success of this program, a pre-implementation survey was conducted using the monkey survey tool to assess the overall patient satisfaction and identify any potential gaps. This data was then used to help us develop and pilot patient experience activities and improvement initiatives. The feedback collected was invaluable in helping us understand the current patient experience and identify areas for improvement.

Among the changes that were implemented :

• The Implementation of nurse leader and physician rounding, and Bedside shift report and endorsement.
• Holding educational sessions, on compassionate human interaction, effective and emotional communication.
• Conducting a monthly patient experience and staff engagement surveys.
• Purposeful Nurse hourly rounding.
• We have designed a personalized badge for each nurse so that the patient can easily remember the name of the nurse assigned to them.
• Encourage patient to use healthcare portal, and department website to access to their medical record, and all related information.
• Enhance practices to assess patient’s preferred learning styles, culture and ability to understand the concepts and care requirements.
• We designed a card with  the department's web page link and the QR code of the patient's survey so that the patient can complete the questionnaire at any time.
• Flexible 24 hours family, friends’ presence and visitation.
• Support partnering with patients/family and caregivers throughout the care activities.
• The Implementation of projects to improve the interaction of patients with healthcare providers by allowing the patient to evaluate and reward their career.
• Incorporation of spaces to comfortably accommodate the presence of family and friends.
• Support patient/family education by developing an antenatal education program for pregnant women.
• Reducing barriers to enhanced communication and emotional interactions by using the translator and language bank

Result:

In the process of analyzing the data, we relied on the following structure to illustrate the achievements: Capture Experience, Understanding Experience, and Experience Improvement.

Capture Experience involves using all appropriate tools to capture the experience of Patients, caregivers, and staff. This includes collecting data about patient perception and expectation for our healthcare services. Doing this helps us to better understand the patient experience, and how we can improve it.

Understanding Experience involves gaining knowledge about patient perception and expectation for our healthcare services. We use this information to gain insight into how our services are being perceived and experienced. This helps us to take action to improve the quality of care that we provide.

Experience Improvement involves ensuring that feedback is heard, understood, and acted upon. We strive to continually monitor and improve the patient experience, and we take feedback seriously. We use this feedback to identify areas for improvement, and to develop plans to address these areas. We make sure that our patients feel heard and valued, and that their feedback is taken into consideration when making changes to our services.

The Implementation of new strategies has been shown to be effective in enhancing patient engagement and partnership with caregivers.

² The patient satisfaction rates has significantly  increased from 63% in April 2022 to 98 % in March 2023.

² The patient and family’s knowledge about their primary physician (increased from 45% in April 2022 to 98% in March 2023).

² The patient and family’s knowledge about their primary nurse (increased from 60% in April 2022 to 99% in March 2023).

² More than 42 healthcare providers have been awarded Stars of Excellence for the best care provided to their patients From January  To March 2023.

² Increased patient  NPS (Net Promoter Score)  to 97% in March 2023.

² Increased Nurses and Midwives satisfaction from 68% in April 2022 to 98% in March 2023.

Conclusion:

The most obvious finding that emerged from this audit was that the Patient Experience Questionnaire was a very useful tool for understanding patient expectations and needs. The responses to the questionnaire provided valuable insights into how the practice could be improved. The results of the audit revealed that meaningful and objective interventions, based on the feedback from the questionnaire, could significantly improve the patient experience in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department at Al Wakra Hospital.

The audit also revealed other components that could be improved. These included areas such as communication, comfort, safety, and quality of care. The audit also highlighted the need for additional staff training to ensure that the highest standards of care were being met. Furthermore, the audit pointed to the importance of having a well-structured system in place to ensure that feedback from patients was collected and acted upon.

Overall, the audit demonstrated that the Patient Experience Questionnaire was a valuable tool for guiding meaningful and objective interventions that could improve the patient experience in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Emergency Department at Al Wakra Hospital. In addition, the audit also revealed other components that could be improved, such as communication, comfort, safety, and quality of care. These findings showed that there was a need for additional staff training and a well-structured system for collecting and acting upon patient feedback.