Hospitals work to capture patient voices to improve healthcare experience

Hospitals frequently turn to patients and their family members for suggestions that they hope will lead to improved quality of care, according to an article in USA Today.

For example, a number of hospitals in the Nashville, Tennessee, area take steps to be sure the patient voice is part of their planning efforts, including LifePoint Health, which has established a new national patient experience advisory board. LifePoint launched its Patient and Family Advisory Board to include patient perspectives in the planning process of its hospitals located in communities across the country.

The initiative is part of a quality program established in partnership with Duke University Health System to improve patient care, experience and safety. LifePoint hospitals can include a patient or family member on their individual boards and create their own local advisory councils.

Dawn Rudolph, chief experience officer at Saint Thomas' Health in Nashville, which recently started a patient advisory committee, told the newspaper that feedback from patients provides opportunities for improvement and frequently centers on communication.

Hospitals also want patient feedback on design, Fierce Healthcare previously reported. Patient comfort is essential for hospital survival, according to Patrick Testa, a consultant with the facility planning forum for the Advisory Board Company. "We are no longer in an environment where if you build it, they will come," he said. "To succeed in the future, the key for health systems will be to attract and retain patients by meeting a new set of consumer demands. A better-informed, cost-conscious patient is becoming a key decision-maker in the marketplace."

To learn more:
- Read the article