Patient Experience vs. Patient Satisfaction
There is a lot of confusion between patient experience and patient satisfaction. Many people use the terms interchangeably, but there is actually a big difference between the two concepts. Usually, healthcare organizations focus on patient satisfaction, but this is not the same as providing a great patient experience. In this blog post, we will discuss the differences between these two concepts.
What is Patient Experience?
The term “patient experience” is a broad concept that includes all the interactions, impressions, and feelings a patient has when visiting healthcare facilities. In other words, it refers to every touchpoint a patient goes through during their visits to healthcare organizations. It also encompasses what happens before and after the actual visit or treatment. The overall goal of patient experience is to provide value for patients and their families.
What is Patient Satisfaction?
Patient satisfaction measures how happy patients are with their healthcare experiences. It includes everything from the quality of care they received to the staff’s attitude and the overall atmosphere of the facility. Patient satisfaction surveys usually ask patients to rate different aspects of their visit on a scale of one to five and so forth. These surveys can be used to identify areas where the healthcare organization needs to make improvements.
The Difference Between Patient Experience and Satisfaction
In general, patient satisfaction is a subset of the patient experience. While improving the patient experience statistics will usually increase overall satisfaction levels, there are times when this may not be true.
For example, if you run a high-end hospital that offers advanced treatment options and state-of-the-art equipment, you might have happy patients even if you don’t provide a great patient experience. In this case, the patients may be happy with their treatment but still have a less than stellar overall experience due to long wait times, limited parking, and poor communication from staff members.
It would also be best if you use technologies to improve both the parameter; for instance, knowing EMR vs. HER, how do these two terms differ, and what best suits your need can help you too.
The opposite is also true. You might run a facility that provides excellent customer service and has highly-trained staff, but if the treatments and services are not up to par, patients will be unhappy with their experience.
Wrapping Up
Overall, patient satisfaction is a good indicator of the quality of the patient experience, but it is not the only factor that matters. Healthcare organizations should focus on improving both patient satisfaction and experience to provide value for patients and their families.