The Effectiveness of a Digital Solution on Improving Patient Experience

Abstract

Patient experience is increasingly recognized as a key performance indicator in healthcare. A tertiary hospital in Singapore introduced bedside tablets to enhance patient engagement and informed care. The tablets provide patients with access to health information and communication with healthcare teams. The study team hypothesized that patient experience would improve over time from pre-implementation of the initiative to post-implementation and with each addition of functionality. This prospective observational study, conducted at Singapore General Hospital, used sequential cross-sectional samples collected across different phases of bedside tablet implementation. Patient experience was evaluated using four specific domains of the validated Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire related to nurse communication, patient involvement, addressing patient concerns, and family information provision. Positive scores were calculated following the questionnaire guidelines, based on the proportion of patients reporting the most favourable responses. Data were collected from June 2019 to July 2024 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Kruskal–Wallis tests. Nurse communication clarity and patient involvement positive scores increased overall, consistently receiving high positive scores across all stages. Patient involvement scores peaked in stage 3, coinciding with added functionalities like self-charting and electronic medical records synchronization. In contrast, addressing patients’ concerns received the lowest positive scores, and family information provision demonstrated a steady decline across all stages. Kruskal–Wallis tests indicated significant differences for patient involvement and family information provision. However, post-hoc tests revealed no significant pairwise differences. The implementation of bedside tablets improved nurse communication clarity and patient involvement in care decisions, although areas for improvement remain, particularly in addressing patient concerns and family information provision. However, the calculation of positive scores, which only account for the most favourable responses, may obscure nuanced patient experiences. Future research would benefit from combining quantitative data with qualitative insights to gain a more comprehensive understanding of patient and family needs.