Abstract
Objectives Explore how patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are collected, communicated and used to inform quality improvement (QI) across healthcare settings.
Design
Systematic review.
Setting
Various primary and secondary care settings, including general practice, and acute and chronic care hospitals.
Participants
A full range of patient populations from (children through to the elderly) and staff (from healthcare practitioners to senior managers).
Methods
Scientific databases were searched (CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE and Cochrane Libraries) as was grey literature. Qualitative and quantitative studies describing collection of PREM data and subsequent QI actions in any healthcare setting were included. Risk of bias was assessed using established criteria. Of 5312 initial hits, 32 full texts were screened, and 11 were included.
Results
Patient experience data were most commonly collected through surveys and used to identify small areas of incremental change to services that do not require a change to clinician behaviour (eg, changes to admission processes and producing educational materials). While staff in most studies reported having made effective improvements, authors struggled to identify what those changes were or the impact they had.
Citaiton: Helen Gleeson, Ana Calderon, Viren Swami, Jessica Deighton, Miranda Wolpert, Julian Edbrooke-Childs Systematic Review Of Approaches To Using Patient Experience Data For Quality Improvement In Healthcare Settings doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2016-011907
Received: 21 March 2016 Revised: 22 July 2016 Accepted: 26 July 2016 Published: 16 August 2016
Copyright: © 2016 This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Conclusions Findings suggest there is no single best way to collect or use PREM data for QI, but they do suggest some key points to consider when planning such an approach. For instance, formal training is recommended, as a lack of expertise in QI and confidence in interpreting patient experience data effectively may continue to be a barrier to a successful shift towards a more patient-centred healthcare service. In the context of QI, more attention is required on how patient experience data will be used to inform changes to practice and, in turn, measure any impact these changes may have on patient experience.
Acknowledgments
This is an independent report commissioned and funded by the Policy Research Programme in the Department of Health. The Child Policy Research Unit (CPRU) is funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme. The authors thank the members of CPRU: Terence Stephenson, Catherine Law, Amanda Edwards, Ruth Gilbert, Steve Morris, Helen Roberts, Cathy Street and Russell Viner. The authors would also thank Lisa Arai for helpful comments on an earlier draft of the paper.
Footnotes
Funding Department of Health.
Disclaimer
The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Department of Health.
Competing interests
None declared.
Provenance and peer review
Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Data sharing statement
No additional data are available.
