Abstract
The coming of fall provides the perfect backdrop for this issue of our journal. Without sounding too corny, fall is nonetheless a time of transition. This journal captures some fantastic examples of the way things were or have always been and the transition to what will be needed moving forward…enhanced analytics, innovative access, and new, sustainable designs in service and experience. The diversity of content shared within the following pages positively reflects on the future of our field.
In the first article, Tanniru and Khuntia explore the correlation between individual patient experience dimensions and overall patient satisfaction using text-based analysis of subjective comments of patients treated in emergency departments. Through the examination of 4 emergency departments, we are able to better understand how positive aspects of care, nursing, communication, and infrastructure play a role in patient experience outcomes than other areas including interactions with doctors and scheduling.
Our feature article explores patient experience through the lens of a 4-year internal engagement initiative and survey process led by the Cleveland Clinic’s Imaging Institute. The “Commitment to Respect” program officially launched in 2013 with the goal of improving teamwork, communication, and ultimately patient satisfaction. Here, Flamm et al analyze and provide 4 years of annual data to illustrate the positive effect the program had on relationships between radiologists and frontline clinical staff; we also learn how institute leaders are able to reinforce these behaviors through scoring and the annual review process, further solidifying the value of cross-departmental communication, respect, and teamwork.
Shifting our focus abroad, Carretta et al uncover aspects of hospital care that affect patient satisfaction by examining the various dimensions, administration, and validity of an in-house questionnaire. With the sample consisting of 3320 discharged patients from an Italian public hospital, and with the questionnaire covering a wide range of topics, the authors provide an in-depth look at how analytical procedures impact patient satisfaction and how adjustments of said procedures may provide an opportunity to transform experiences.
Patient-centered care requires sensitivity to culture, value, and preferences. Roncoroni uncovers how the Tucker-Culturally Sensitive Health-Care Provider Inventory allows providers to self-assess their engagement in patient-centered, culturally sensitive health care. Furthermore, Fragala et al discuss the importance of ambulatory care in overall health-care delivery and how something as historic and common as fixed height examination tables may not be ideal for an aging and physically disabled population.
Finally, by applying new access methods via shared medical appointments to patients on opioids in the treatment of chronic pain, we uncover improvements in patients’ confidence in self-managing pain and in their health-care providers’ ability to help manage pain. Romanelli et al report how such confidence can lay the foundation for increased patient engagement and activation in pain management.
Despite any transition from “how it was” into “what it will be,” some things won’t (and shouldn’t) ever change…our commitment to the patient. I thank the authors and readers for their fearless resolve to putting our patients first.