Digital Commons Network^™

Co-Designing Of Patient Safety Incident Disclosure Process In Primary Healthcare System In Qatar, Nawal Khattabi, Reena Francis, Reem Abdul Malik, Amal Al Ali, Mariam Abdul Malik

Patient Experience Journal

The importance of disclosing a patient safety incident to the patient involved is recognized. In Qatar, there is no legal requirement for disclosure. The primary health care system in Qatar includes 30 health centers located around the country, managed by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC). Over 63 nationalities of staff deliver care in the health centers, many coming from countries where a disclosure policy is not implemented, and staff would be reluctant to disclose an incident to a patient for fear of reprimand. Many patients who receive care in the health centers come from countries where the health system …

Acceptability Of A New Remote Monitoring Service For Patients With Covid-19 Infection Using Wearable Biostickers™: A Mixed Methods Study, Lynne Maher Dr, Lisa K. Blake Mrs, Karol J. Czuba Dr, Mary E. Seddon Dr

Patient Experience Journal

The COVID-19 pandemic saw rapid adoption of telehealth, including remote patient monitoring (RPM). There is limited evidence about how patients and staff experience such services in New Zealand. This study aimed to understand the acceptability of the RPM experience, particularly for Maori and Pacific peoples, and identify strengths, gaps, and limitations to inform future delivery of services. A mixed methods study was undertaken between 4 July and 11 September 2022 in Auckland. We conducted telephone surveys with patients and semi-structured interviews with patients and staff. Survey, and clinical and administrative data were analysed descriptively using SPSS. Interviews were analysed using …

Investing In The Bottom Line: The Value Case For Improving Human Experience In Healthcare, Jason A. Wolf, Vishal Bhalla, Brian Carlson, Jennifer Carron, Lanie Dixon, Julie K. Oehlert, Brant J. Oliver

Patient Experience Journal

Investment in human experience is imperative for healthcare organizations. It is a strategic focus that can lead to great benefits. Those that overlook experience, seeing it as “simply” about satisfaction or survey data, do so at great cost to their organization, team members, and most importantly those we serve – patients. A commitment to human experience – integrating the patient, workforce, and community experience – is essential for all healthcare organizations in realizing the goals they strive for and the impact they aspire to achieve. It leads to high-quality outcomes for those they care for. It creates a positive environment …

The Evolution Of Patient Experience: From Holistic Care To Human Experience, Corey Adams, Reema Harrison, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

Patient experience has evolved as a critical concept and outcome in health systems internationally. Evolving from consumer-led movements, coupled with shifts in the positioning of patients among clinical professions, the global focus on patient experience is now evident in nationally mandated measurement tools, the creation of dedicated institutional leadership roles, and outlets such as the Patient Experience Journal. By critically analysing the pivotal factors and milestones that have shaped its evolution throughout healthcare history, this review provides an in-depth exploration of the evolution of patient experience. In doing so, the review provides a critical analysis of the application of patient …

Implementing A Patient Engagement Framework In The Primary Healthcare System In Qatar, Nawal Khattabi, Mohammed Abdalla, Amal Al Ali Md., Mariam Abdul Malik Md.

Patient Experience Journal

The healthcare system in Qatar has acknowledged the need for patient-centered care (PCC) in its strategic intentions. The primary care system in Qatar consists of 31 health centers located throughout the country, managed by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC). PHCC sought accreditation through Accreditation Canada, which in 2018 included a priority for PCC, including engaging patients in all aspects of the organization. A formal patient engagement (PE) framework was developed and fully implemented in the primary health care system. The framework involved patients in strategic and operational aspects of all organizational activities at national and health center levels, including …

“You Are The Key”: A Co-Design Project To Reduce Disparities In Black Veterans’ Communication With Healthcare Providers, Anna M. Barker, Renda S. Wiener, Dave Crocker, Makayla Dones, Oluwabunmi Emidio, Abigail N. Herbst, Jenesse Kaitz, Lauren Kearney, Danielle Miano, Gemmae M. Fix

Patient Experience Journal

Interventions are needed to overcome a key barrier to patient-provider communication, namely that patients hesitate to participate in clinical conversations because they believe their expected role is to be passive. This expectation is reinforced for veterans, who replicate their experience of military hierarchy in the patient-provider relationship. Black veterans, moreover, encounter structural racism that compounds this power imbalance. This paper describes a co-designed intervention to empower Black veterans to talk with providers, using shared decision-making (SDM) for lung cancer screening (LCS) as an exemplar. We worked with a diverse group of 5 veterans to develop materials that normalize participating in …

Breaking The Transactional Mindset: A New Path For Healthcare Leadership Built On A Commitment To Human Experience, Kirsten Krull, Jerry Mansfield, Jennifer Gentry, Karen Grimley, Barbara Jacobs, Jason Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

Numerous health care publications have focused on the compelling need to improve patient experience and the associated improvements necessary to address workforce well-being. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated and illuminated long-standing problems in health care including workforce shortages, inequity in health care delivery outcomes, care provider burnout, and overall societal structural racism.^1,2 The Beryl Institute’s Nursing Executive Council (NEC) manuscript Rebuilding a Foundation of Trust: A Call to Action in Creating a Safe Environment for Everyone³ focused on actions and behaviours to heal relationships and build trust between care providers and leaders with commitments to safety, empathy, shared decision …

Four Commitments For The Future Of Healthcare: Reflecting On A Decade Of Patient Experience Journal, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

This issue closes the first decade of Patient Experience Journal’s (PXJ) contribution to evidence and innovation, to sharing stories and research, to elevating the conversation and pushing the boundaries of the experience movement. We have never hesitated to nudge at the status quo or to respond with agility to the challenging moments we have faced. We have welcomed diverse voices as contributors, and we have seen an even more diverse readership. In reviewing the pages of PXJ over the last decade, we see a true evolution of the experience movement itself. The words of our contributors have provided a lens …

The Frontier For Human Experience Is Closer Than We Think, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

When we think of frontiers, we think of boundaries between the known and unknown, the edge we see in the distance, something that is always just over the horizon. Yet when we step into what was once the frontier, the horizon moves on us, with new distances to cross, edges to reach. It is this dynamic of frontiers, wrapped in our individual and shared experiences of the last few years that shape this very special issue. It is also why now more than ever frontiers are an important part of our transformation. Frontiers that push us beyond where we can …

Part Of The Team: Effecting Change And Sharing Power In Healthcare Settings, Jessica Stanier, Rachel Purtell, Dave Thomas, William Murray

Patient Experience Journal

In 2019, we, as a group of patients and researchers, were invited to rethink how the executive board received and responded to patient stories at a specific NHS hospital trust in the UK. Through an iterative series of meetings, we were able to co-identify common concerns and together develop a distinctive narrative framework for effecting change by sharing patient experiences. This narrative framework is designed to help patients position themselves as ‘part of their healthcare team,’ emphasising roles and responsibilities between patients and health practitioners to compare ideals with reality in patient experiences. While the project was promising, several factors …

Patient Experience In An Interprofessional Collaborative Practice For Underserved Patients With Heart Failure, Connie White-Williams, Maria R. Shirey, Reid Eagleson, Wei Su, Terri Poe, Brittany Fitts, Vera Bittner

Patient Experience Journal

Heart failure is a complex chronic condition that results in multiple patient visits throughout the care continuum. Patient experience has associations with clinical outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine patient experience among the underserved in a specialized interprofessional collaborative practice heart failure clinic. This prospective study utilized both qualitative and quantitative data to describe the patient experience within an interprofessional collaborative practice. Data were collected from patient experience surveys in 1128 patients seen in the Heart Failure Transitional Care Services for Adults (HRTSA) clinic between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2021. Interprofessional collaborative practice surveys were …

Listening As Medicine: A Thematic Analysis, Rachel Kishton M.D., Heta Patel, Divya Saini, Jeffrey Millstein M.D., Aaron Levy Ph.D.

Patient Experience Journal

Realizations of the importance of “the art of medicine” in trust-building and patient satisfaction have resulted in the incorporation of narrative medicine programs into training curricula. By learning how to respond to patient stories as well as communicate their own, healthcare providers can ensure that their patients feel heard and respected. This study seeks to define what constitutes empathetic listening through a qualitative analysis of personal narratives collected from patients, caregivers, and providers across an urban academic healthcare system. Stories (n=41) underwent thematic analysis to note common experiences related to listening during a health system encounter. Eighteen grounded codes were …

A Concept Analysis Of The Patient Experience, Tanja Avlijas Rn, Mscn, Janet E. Squires Rn, Phd, Michelle Lalonde Rn, Phd, Chantal Backman Rn, Phd

Patient Experience Journal

Patient experience, an essential indicator of quality patient care, is of increasing importance to hospitals that want to improve and maintain strong patient experience metrics to remain competitive in the business of healthcare. The aim of this study was to clarify the concept of the patient experience by identifying its existing definitions, methods of measurement, and underlying themes and attributes, to differentiate it from similar concepts and propose an operational and theoretical definition to guide valid and reliable development of future assessment tools. Walker and Avant’s eight-step methodology served as the framework for this concept analysis. A literature search, using …

Partnering With Healthcare: The Experiences Of Consumer Representatives, Corey Adams, Anthony J. Brown

Patient Experience Journal

The importance of consumer advocacy in person-centred healthcare service planning and delivery is growing. In Australia, the role of the "Consumer Representative" (known internationally as "Patient and Family Advisors") is to advocate for patients and their families' needs to improve service planning, healthcare design, and service evaluation. As the role of consumer representatives evolves and matures within the healthcare setting, it is crucial to comprehend their experiences and identify key insights to support and enhance their role within healthcare organizations. To achieve this, a focus group of four Consumer Representatives was conducted and their views were compiled into a single …

Building On A Decade Of Hope: Why We Must Champion The Human Experience, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

The pages of PXJ have served a primary purpose, to expand the evidence on patient experience and push the boundaries of innovation in this critical work. But through this commitment, PXJ has seen much more happen. The contributions of our thousands of authors, reviewers and editors have also fostered an environment of connection. PXJ has emerged as something more than just a journal. It has become a place for conversation. It has served as a conduit for expanding excellence in practice. It has fostered new thinking. And it has broadened our global community. There is something very special found on …

Teamwork That Affects Outcomes: A Method To Enhance Team Ownership, Brian Carlson, Richelle Graham, Brad Stinson, Jordan Larocca

Patient Experience Journal

Healthcare is the ultimate team sport, and this case study explores how to build teamwork across teams. The ability for nursing, environmental services and food and nutrition services to work collaboratively to benefit patients is paramount to a patients experience and outcomes. The case study describes how the work was done to build teams and then improved outcomes in both patient and employee experiences. The learnings are applicable to any team setting not just those described in this case study.

Experience Framework

This article is associated with the Staff & Provider Engagement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework ( …

Global Child And Family-Centered Care Fellowship, Education And Mentorship For Pediatric Healthcare Professionals: A Literature Review, Ashley Zheng, Bobbijo Pansier

Patient Experience Journal

Child- and family-centered care (FCC) is increasingly accepted and implemented to optimize the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and healthcare professionals. Standish Foundation for Children, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, has designed and piloted a fellowship to educate pediatric healthcare professionals in FCC & psychosocial care via an inquiry and mentorship model in Tbilisis, Georgia. This review aimed to evaluate and synthesize existing literature on psychosocial and FCC mentorship for pediatric healthcare professionals in four parts: ongoing need, effects on healthcare professionals, effects on children and their families and/or caregivers, and in cross-country healthcare settings. Reviewers searched open-source databases for articles …

Beyond Service Education: Impacting The Human Experience With Sustained Training Utilizing The Experience Model Of Communication, Jennifer S. Packard, Rebecca A. Brustad, Jane M. Hoplin, Sheila K. Stevens

Patient Experience Journal

Patients scheduling or checking in for medical appointments often share with frontline employees’ details of their stories, including their worries, prior negative experiences, and hopes. These interactions require employees to not only complete their task, but also to be mindfully present, picking up on important social cues and showing appropriate emotional congruence and empathic understanding. Based on a review of recorded patient calls, a gap was identified in the communication skills of desk and scheduling staff at this large academic medical center, and a sustained training program was created to fill this gap. The training is centered on an evolving …

Improving Workforce Experiences At United States Federally Qualified Health Centers: Exploring The Perceived Impact Of Generational Diversity On Employee Engagement, Verneda Bachus, Lihua Dishman, John W. Fick

Patient Experience Journal

This qualitative study aimed to explore a multigenerational workforce’s impact on employee engagement as perceived by Federally Qualified Health Centers’ (FQHCs) C-suite executives. It sought to answer one research question: What is the perceived impact of generational diversity on employee engagement of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the United States? This cross-sectional study was national. Primary data were collected using a self-developed, two-part survey instrument: (1) eight demographic questions and (2) two open-ended, short-answer questions. Cognitive interviews, reviews by five subject matter experts, and a pilot study were completed to ensure the instrument’s validity and reliability. Demographic data were …

Positively Waiting: Technology As The Preferred Distractor In A Pediatric Outpatient Setting, Timothy Ernest, Victoria Maddex, Arnaldo Mejias, Lindy Davidson, Donna Ettel-Gambino

Patient Experience Journal

Visiting any pediatric outpatient clinic as a child may be considered a stressful and anxiety-inducing experience. The literature suggests that positive distractions, such as pet therapy and single-user electronic devices, may aid in reducing anxiety and maximizing patient satisfaction throughout the patient’s experience at a pediatric outpatient clinic. The aim of this pilot quality improvement project was to determine which positive distractions patients experienced and whether single-user electronic loaner devices should be provided to patients at pediatric outpatient facilities. A quantitative causal comparative approach was utilized in identifying patient exposure to key positive distraction techniques that may significantly decrease anxiety. …

Using A Multidisciplinary Data Approach To Operationalize An Experience Framework, Kevin Spera, Garrett Holmes, Sunni Barnes

Patient Experience Journal

Like many healthcare organizations, Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) is awash with data. Often, this data is used in siloed departments to monitor safety and quality, make local business decisions, and motivate staff to improve processes to achieve sustained excellence and market share. As margins get thinner and competition from various disrupters increases, organizations have tried to improve the patient experience to remain viable as part of a calculated strategy. Nevertheless, these entities have struggled to focus limited resources for sustained improvement in patient experience. This article details how a large Texas-based healthcare system "operationalized" The Beryl Institute's Experience …

The Tensions Between Healthcare Providers And Patient And Family Advisory Committees (Pfacs): A Comparative Health System Analysis Between England And Ontario, Umair Majid

Patient Experience Journal

There has been a proliferation of patient engagement (PE) in healthcare activities. However, the concept of “engagement” has existed for decades; the first Patient and Family Advisory Committees (PFACs) in North America were formed in the 1970s. These committees are an important mechanism for involving patients and family and have proliferated across the healthcare sector. However, it is unclear how or why PFACs became the predominant mechanism for PE. The objective of this comparative analysis is to review the historical context and legislative imperatives that have contributed to the proliferation of PFACs in Ontario, Canada and England, United Kingdom.

Experience …

Perceptions Of The Healthcare System Among Stakeholders, Michael D. Markee, Christine Ascencio, Laura Brugger, Renee Jonas, Hisako Matsuo

Patient Experience Journal

The U.S. healthcare system is rife with complexities and is consistently a source of political debate. One’s interaction with the system may directly impact the understanding of the system. The objective of this research is to examine the perceptions of the United States healthcare system from the viewpoint of healthcare providers, insurers, and consumers. Using a grounded theory approach, theoretical sampling was used to explore similarities and differences between the three groups of actors in the healthcare system. Data were collected through interviews with thirty-one participants using a semi-structured interview schedule. Themes of cost, access, and inefficiency emerged from the …

Consumer Representative Experiences Of Partnership With Health Workers In Australia, Coralie R. Wales, Judith A. Lababedi, Alison Coles, Philip Lee, Emma Clarke

Patient Experience Journal

We examine the experiences of Consumer Representatives participating in consumer engagement activities across a public health service in NSW, Australia. A team of Consumer Representatives and staff members use a participatory, constructivist paradigm and a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to analyse ten interviews with Consumer Representatives over three years 2017-2019, and three focus groups in 2020. We explore these experiences and identify the linked contextual factors from their points of view. Consumer Representatives were prepared to invest their time, but they needed respect. “Respect” from a consumer perspective was being meaningfully included, supported and heard, and activities needed to be purposeful …

In Divided Times, A Focus On Human Experience Connects Us, Jason A. Wolf

Patient Experience Journal

The realities of the time in which we find ourselves, not only in healthcare, but in society overall, have exposed so much of what was simmering beneath the surface of our humanity. Issues of equity and inclusion, of stress and burnout, of division and misconception and even the existence of alternative “truths” have caused rifts in our connection, weakened our societal foundations and pulled on the seams of the healthcare system itself. We close our eighth volume of Patient Experience Journal (PXJ) under this veil, yet I believe we have an opportunity to use this moment as a place from …

Building Patient Participation In Quality Of Care Through The Healthcare Stories Project: A Demonstration Program In New York State Hiv Clinics, Abigail Baim-Lance, Freda Coren, Margaret Brown, Hazel Lever, Daniel Tietz, Bruce Agins

Patient Experience Journal

There is growing recognition that patients should play a central role in defining, assessing, and improving the quality of healthcare, thereby enhancing patient experiences. Healthcare organizations struggle to meet these goals, which require becoming more patient-centered and patient-involved. The Healthcare Stories Project (HCSP), a demonstration program of the NYS Department of Health AIDS Institute, aimed to address this. HCSP comprises three, stepwise activities to: 1) Capture how patients define and experience ‘quality of care’ in the clinic; 2) Engage patients and providers as equal partners in understanding and improving the quality of care; and through partnerships, 3) Support the building …

Breaking Barriers To Equity: A Conversation With Dr. Julia Iyasere, Jason A. Wolf Phd

Patient Experience Journal

I was honored to have the opportunity to talk to someone I've been fortunate to meet in the past few months and who has taught me incredible things about the topic of equity in healthcare and even more so the idea of health justice, Dr. Julia Iyasere, Executive Director of the NewYork-Presbyterian Dalio Center for Health Justice. As a physician, an educator, a researcher, and I suggest an evidence-based social activist, Dr. Iyasere has led the establishment and growth of the Dalio Center in just the over 9 months since its launch. But the ideas she champions in her work …

Moving From Talk To Action: A Commitment To Ensuring Equity Must Ground Our Efforts To Transform The Human Experience, Jason A. Wolf Phd

Patient Experience Journal

When we first introduced the call for submissions for this special issue last August, we were still churning in the first wave of the COVID pandemic. Just three to four months from the start of an unending rash of unexpected and harsh realities that we were faced with in healthcare and in society at large, we too found that the moment was revealing all the weaknesses and wounds that had existed in the foundations of the healthcare system from well before the pandemic hit. Our own research at The Beryl Institute in 2020 reinforced a quiet reality: that people do …

The Impact Of Patient Shadowing On Service Design: Insights From A Family Medicine Clinic, Andrew S. Gallan, Bruce Perlow, Riddhi Shah, Judith Gravdal

Patient Experience Journal

A central tenet of patient-centered care is to truly and deeply understand how patients experience health care. One particular qualitative method, patient shadowing, holds the promise of seeing things through the patient’s eyes in real time. The purpose of this research is to utilize patient shadowing to capture the realities of patient experiences in an outpatient family medicine clinic and to report opportunities for improvement to clinic leadership. A total of twenty (20) patients were shadowed at a family medicine outpatient clinic over the course of eight (8) different days, providing a variety of circumstances including staffing levels, shift changes, …

Patients’ And Family Caregivers’ Perceptions Of Doctor-To-Doctor Advice And Electronic Referral Notifications In Alberta, Yong Li, Annabelle Wong

Patient Experience Journal

Effective communication between health professionals and patients is essential to patient safety and quality care. Primary care providers seeking specialist advice to manage patients’ conditions in the community has recently been adopted to improve timely access to specialty care and increase the efficacy of the referral process. To understand patients’ and family caregivers’ perceptions on doctor-to-doctor advice for non-urgent clinical questions and electronic referral communications with patients in Alberta, a mixed method online survey was conducted by Alberta Health Services’ Access Improvement team. A total of 1,422 patients and family caregivers living in Alberta were included in the quantitative and …