The Value of Measuring Patient Experience Beyond CAHPS

A new report shows the value of measuring the patient experience beyond Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS) requirements.

Service Management Group (SMG), a global customer, patient and employee experience management partner, located in Kansas City, introduced a new report that’s based on patient experience data collected in a study commissioned by the The Beryl Institute, the global community of practice dedicated to improving the patient experience through collaboration and shared knowledge. The report-3 patient experience questions answered-uncovers what 1,500 healthcare professionals revealed about shifting the cultural mindset and evolving to meet patient needs.

“Healthcare organizations that are going beyond CAHPS requirements to incorporate additional patient experience efforts are driving more positive results across the business,” according to Paul Tiedt, senior vice president of research at SMG.

“Our research shows that the 45% of healthcare organizations measuring beyond CAHPS requirements are seeing increases in consumer loyalty, community reputation, customer service, and clinical outcomes,” he says.

In addition, healthcare organizations with patient experience measurement that goes beyond CAHPS requirements are significantly more likely to drive positive results across other key measures:

• Employee engagement and retention

• Physician engagement and retention

• New customer attraction

Adding patient experience measurement to existing CAHPS efforts will have a positive impact on all important measures and drive positive sentiment about patient experience throughout the organization,” Tiedt says.

Related: How To Keep Patients From Switching Providers

Other report findings include:

• Patient experience is a top priority, but many healthcare organizations are still in the early stages. Although 79% of health professionals list patient experence as a top priority, only one in three say their efforts are well established.

• All areas of the organization affect patient experience. “Organizations won’t deliver an improved experience with a one-dimensional approach to patient experience, Tiedt says. “Instead, you need comprehensive measurement efforts that factor in all parts of your business.”

• If everyone owns the patient experience, nobody owns the patient experience. Advocacy for patient experience efforts needs to come from leadership, according to Tiedt. “A CAHPS-only approach won’t lead to the inside-out cultural shift that’s required,” he says.

• Cross-functional buy-in is key. Patient experience results will impact nearly all parts of the organization. To be successful, organizations need cross-functional buy-in so they are better equipped to take fast, business-changing action on the data.

Tiedt advises healthcare executives to:

• Conduct interviews with a cross-section of managers and staff to take stock of specific and common patient experience pain points.

• Assemble a cross-functional team and jointly decide on up to three major patient experience improvement objectives.

• Identify key points along the entire patient journey that need measurement plus improvement.

• Select a partner that will work with you to measure patient experience and provide real-time results in order to make progress on your objectives.

• Share results regularly and widely to encourage positive change, and look for opportunities to humanize the data with patient stories drawn from open-ended feedback.

• Provide recognition, coaching, training, and support to departments and individuals that are critical to overall PX improvement

Access to the full report is here.