HIMSS21 Day 1: Patient Experience is Important but is it a Priority?

Not surprisingly, there was general agreement from presenters and panelists that patient experience is important at the Patient Experience & Consumerization Forum pre-conference event at HIMSS21. Prioritizing it, however, was a whole different story.

Patent Experience Influences Outcomes

On Day 1 of #HIMSS21 I had the opportunity to attend the Patient Experience & Consumerization Forum hosted by Dr. Adrienne Boissy, Chief Experience Officer at Cleveland Clinic. This has become one of my favorite parts of the annual HIMSS conference.

During the Forum, many of the speakers and panelists quoted studies and statistics that showed a positive association between patient experience and clinical outcomes. My favorite go-to is this literature study conducted in 2012 that looked at 55 other studies.

The authors found: “consistent positive associations between patient experience, patient safety and clinical effectiveness for a wide range of disease areas, settings, outcome measures and study designs. It demonstrates positive associations between patient experience and self-rated and objectively measured health outcomes”

This tie to outcomes is part of the reason so many healthcare leaders believe that patient experience is important. Importance, however, does not necessarily translate into priority.

COVID Pushed Patient Experience Aside

While moderating a panel on the State of Patient Experience, I challenged the panel with this statement: “During the pandemic, there were many healthcare organizations that suspended visiting hours and prevented family from seeing their loved ones who were being treated at their facilities. At the beginning this was done because not much was known about the COVID-19 virus. However, as more information about the vectors of the virus became known, many organizations kept their no-visitor policy. How do you reconcile that with the supposed importance of patient experience?”

Tania Elliott, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, Chief Medical Officer, Virtual Care, Clinical & Network Services for Ascension who was on the panel with me, acknowledged the no-visitor policy was used early in the pandemic. However, she pointed out that organizations that truly listened to the concerns of patients and continued to consult with their Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs), modified their approach to be more accommodating.

“They didn’t hide behind the policy,” said Elliott. “Instead, they took the time to explain the policy and why it was in place. They then listened to the feedback and concerns. By listening closely smart organizations could hear that families were desperate to see and talk to their loved ones to support them and in many cases, unfortunately, say goodbye to them.”

The healthcare organizations that listened adopted technologies like iPads + FaceTime that allowed for virtual visits. As PPE and other measures became more routine, designated family representatives were allowed short visits if they followed strict protocols.

Unfortunately not all organizations were so amenable. Many senior-care facilities and smaller organizations enforced the strict no-visitor policy deep into 2020. I would say that those organizations were merely paying lip service to the importance of patient experience because their actions showed they did not prioritize it.

Two Poignant Moments

There were two moments from the Forum that stood out for me.

The first was the way that Dr. Boissy opened the Forum. She highlighting the inherent bias in patient experience surveys that are a staple of healthcare organizations. She pointed to the fact that most of the respondents of those surveys are white, college-educated people who are 65 years or older. Yet organizations make critical decisions based on the insights gleans from this narrow demographic.

The second, was Abner Mason, founder and CEO at ConsejoSano, who spoke plainly and unapologetically about the impact social determinants of health (SDOH) – particularly how low-income families were cut out from much of healthcare. Mason spoke so eloquently and passionately that several members of the audience rushed over to him as he left the stage to learn more about his work.

I’m looking forward to what Day 2 of #HIMSS21 brings.

About the author

Colin Hung

Colin Hung is the co-founder of the #hcldr (healthcare leadership) tweetchat one of the most popular and active healthcare social media communities on Twitter. Colin speaks, tweets and blogs regularly about healthcare, technology, marketing and leadership. He is currently an independent marketing consultant working with leading healthIT companies. Colin is a member of #TheWalkingGallery. His Twitter handle is: @Colin_Hung.

   

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