Hooker, Kelsey
(2019)
Enhancing the patient experience: a challenge for leadership in health care.
Master's Thesis, University of Pittsburgh.
Abstract
Organization: The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), is a $19 billion not-for-profit Integrated Delivery and Finance System based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with 80,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 600 clinical locations and 3.4 million Health Plan members. This case study was completed with UPMC’s Community Medicine division, a subset of the UPMC Health Services Division, comprised of Primary Care and Specialty practices, whose doctors devote 100% of their time to clinical practice and do not engage in research or education. CMI has 224 sites, 469 physicians, 225 APPs, and administrative support staff.
Problem: A Health System as large as UPMC struggles to sustain a high standard of satisfactory care delivery. To address this challenge in 2018 UPMC engaged The Studer Group for its expertise in enhancing the patient experience. The Community Medicine Division, to align with the UPMC corporate strategy, formed a Patient Experience Committee to improve patient experience, employee engagement, and Press Ganey patient satisfaction scores.
Goals: The goals of this paper are to: 1) Examine the literature for best practices in implementing patient experience in healthcare. 2) Design a model for divisions to improve patient experience scores, across all specialties of care. 3) Provide a summary of lessons learned from this study and methods that health care organizations can use to prevent problems and address challenges to sustained quality of care.
Outcomes: Since the conception of the Patient Experience Committee, Community Medicine Incorporated, CMI, experienced a 0.5% increase in the Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction scoring and a 1.3% increase in office staff scoring, the primary focus of the committee. Feedback from the staff indicates a very positive response to the Committee’s initiatives and requests that they be continued. The Committee’s meetings have been widely accepted, well attended, and participatory, resulting in enthusiasm to sustain this initiative.
Lessons Learned: A committee with this charge has a considerable opportunity to address a range of issues relevant to the patient care experience. The ‘Triple Aim’ framework of providers, staff, and patients is a useful model to guide implementation of such change strategies to create a culture centered on enhanced patient experience. Each organization is unique in their structure, but similar in that both patients and employees expect that their basic needs will be met. This framework can be applied to any healthcare organization as a model for patient experience improvement.
Public Health Relevance: Implementing a Patient Experience Committee within an organization/division entails that key decision makers are accountable for all the direct care and support services within their domain that affect the patient experience. By engaging mangers at all levels, a strategy for insuring a sustained commitment to enhanced patient care and patient satisfaction is more likely to be achieved and sustained. This will contribute to the overall health and well-being of our population being served as well as the longer-term viability of the health care system as large Fortune 500 companies, like Amazon, continue to penetrate the market.
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Details
| Item Type: |
Other Thesis, Dissertation, or Long Paper
(Master's Thesis)
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| Contributors: |
| Contribution | Contributors Name | Email | Pitt Username | ORCID  |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Rohrer, Wesley | wmrun@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | DeAlmeida, Dilhari | drd7@pitt.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED | | Committee Member | Voelker, Anna | voelkeram@upmc.edu | UNSPECIFIED | UNSPECIFIED |
|
| Date: |
17 April 2019 |
| Date Type: |
Submission |
| Submission Date: |
24 April 2019 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
46 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
School of Public Health > Health Policy & Management |
| Degree: |
MHA - Master of Health Administration |
| Thesis Type: |
Master's Thesis |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Patient experience |
| Date Deposited: |
07 Oct 2019 19:52 |
| Last Modified: |
07 Oct 2019 19:52 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/36608 |
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