In today’s value-based economy, patient satisfaction carries nearly as much weight as health outcomes. It is vital that healthcare professionals understand the impact patient satisfaction has on quality improvements. 

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defines patient experience as:

Patient experience encompasses the range of interactions that patients have with the health care system, including their care from health plans, and from doctors, nurses, and staff in hospitals, physician practices, and other health care facilities. As an integral component of health care quality, patient experience includes several aspects of health care delivery that patients value highly when they seek and receive care, such as getting timely appointments, easy access to information, and good communication with health care providers.

Although often used synonymously, patient satisfaction is derived from a patient’s expectations about their healthcare experience, which can vary greatly from patient to patient. The HCAHPS survey asks patients to evaluate and report on their health care experiences, asking patients to report on the aspects of their care that are important to them. According to the latest research from patient experience firm Press Ganey, nurse respect and courtesy, nurse friendliness and teamwork amongst the clinical team had the greatest impact on patient satisfaction, as reflected in HCAHPS scores. 

“For example, top-performing hospitals had nurses who employed proven communication strategies, communicated with great transparency, and facilitated shared decision-making between the care team and the patient."

This new research reinforces previous data indicating that nurses, and effective communication between nurses and physicians, are important for improving patient outcomes and the patient experience.

Empowering nurses with an effective patient-centered tool to communicate is essential for effective patient care. In our whitepaper, Using Communication Technology to Deliver Patient-Cantered Care, we examine how integrating communication technology with clinical systems such as the EMR, nurse call and lab systems can improve nurse efficiency, improve patient outcomes and improve the patient experience.