Discovery Health opens PaSS – its hospital patient experience survey, for use by Discovery Health clients

Discovery Health opens PaSS – its hospital patient experience survey, for use by Discovery Health clients

Discovery Health has made the results of its hospital patient experience survey – known as PaSS (Patient Survey Score) available for use by Discovery Health clients.

The PaSS survey is adapted from the well-established Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey developed by the United States Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality that has been validated by millions of patients who have participated in the survey. The survey has been adapted slightly for South African use.

Discovery Health has received helpful input from industry bodies, the Hospitals Association of South Africa and professional leadership during the survey data analysis process.

The structured survey was conducted among Discovery adult members following discharge from hospital. PaSS data has been collected and rigorously analysed over the past 5 years.

PaSS objectively measures some in-hospital service elements of the patient experience of healthcare, such as the responsiveness of hospital staff, how well pain was controlled, and the adequacy of discharge information during the hospital stay. Discovery emphasises that though patient experience is an important component of care, there are many other factors contributing to the delivery of care.

Survey results have been shared with healthcare providers for some years, with the aim of supporting improvement efforts already underway at hospitals, and will now be shared with hospital patients for their own use.

By sharing such measurements with its members, Discovery Health aspires to empower patients to become active consumers of healthcare, as well as partners in the efforts of Discovery Health and hospital operators to create an additional platform for improved patient experience and care.

“Results from this survey, combined with information from surveys that hospitals conduct themselves, provide insights into how our members experience hospital services, which can be used to improve healthcare delivery. Measurement is a powerful catalyst for improvement.” says Dr Jonathan Broomberg, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Health.

He adds that the survey measures of some aspects of patient care has great potential to enable the South African healthcare system to move towards the ultimate goal of “patient-centred” care. Successful patient-centred healthcare systems seek to understand the needs of patients, and address these needs by involving patients in decision-making, and responding quickly to their needs. For this reason it is important to hear what patients have to say.

Dr Roshini Moodley Naidoo, Head of Quality of Care at Discovery Health says “we believe that informed and empowered patients and skilled, knowledgeable, and motivated healthcare professionals will make a good healthcare system even better. The survey empowers patients by giving them a voice in the healthcare system so that through the survey, patients can tell their hospitals and doctors what is important to them. We know that hospitals and doctors will take this feedback seriously and use it to add to their existing improvement efforts.”

To make comparisons of patient experience between hospitals as fair as possible, the survey analysis applied methods to adjust the results for factors that hospitals cannot reasonably control - such as the nature of illness that patients present with. Further adjustments are made for demographic factors such as age and gender. “These analytical adjustments ensure like-for-like comparisons using sound scientific techniques, and best international methodologies that have been reviewed by independent experts,” says Dr Naidoo.

“It is important to note that a lower patient experience score does not mean hospitals do not deliver high quality care. It shows room for improvement in overall healthcare delivery and in the patient experience, which the hospital may already be undertaking by involving their nursing staff, healthcare professionals, patients and families in developing solutions, ” she said.

“Discovery Health is working with various stakeholders to refine and develop other quality measurement tools to benefit patient care. We realise consumers may want to use these results to inform their choice of a hospital in future. We emphasise that patient experience is only one component of care. Most important is the opportunity presented currently by the survey to improve on certain aspects of patient experience,” says Dr Broomberg.

The survey also does not intend to replace direct communication between patients and healthcare providers. However, it is globally recognised as an important way to strengthen healthcare systems by directly involving patients in care delivery.