For decades, leaders have referred to the Picker Institute’s eight dimensions of patient-centered care, which focus on the needs of the individual. But to what extent are these eight dimensions still relevant to today’s patients, and how have perceptions of the patient experience changed over time?
When we look at the dimensions of patient-centered care from a consumer perspective, it becomes clear there are specific things healthcare organizations can do to ensure they are meeting the needs of their consumers.
1. Respect for Patients’ Values, Preferences and Expressed Needs
Patients want to be informed regarding their medical conditions and involved in decision-making. Healthcare leaders should think of population health from a consumer’s perspective—patients are looking at your organization’s involvement in their lives long before they enter. In response, some organizations provide on-site food, pharmacies, grocery stores and cooking classes. Consumers also want to know that they, their families, their values and their culture will be respected when they are ill. Convey to patients that your organization is committed to helping them live their fullest lives by getting them back to where they were before their illness (or as close as possible) through improved wellness-focused offerings.
2. Coordination and Integration of Care
People feel vulnerable and powerless in the face of illness, but proper coordination of care can ease these feelings and help patients navigate the often confusing healthcare system. Providers need to consider every interaction with consumers and keep in mind they want to be treated as unique individuals. Organizing support groups for patients who have similar conditions is one way to accomplish this—such groups enable patients to attain a feeling of connectedness. Going one step further and having a physician or nurse lead these groups allows patients to connect with their care providers, which is another deep-seated consumer desire. The desire for connection is even stronger as consumers emerge from COVID and long for a clear, coordinated re-introduction into healthcare.
3. Information, Communication and Education
To help consumers find what they are looking for, providers can offer an easy-to-access website with transparent information. When consumers search for online reviews and don’t find any, they often feel as though the organization is hiding something, which ties in to patients’ often expressed fear that information is being withheld from them or they’re not being completely informed about their condition or prognosis.
4. Physical Comfort
Consumers are looking for a place they know will make them and their families comfortable. Patients’ needs for physical comfort can still be met by providing amenities such as additional privacy, comfier beds, shower supplies, and access to respite rooms so patients and their families can be made comfortable. Also consider that prior to the pandemic, many consumers had no idea about their level of risk of acquiring an infection inside the hospital and now may be warier of this risk.
5. Emotional Support and Alleviation of Fear and Anxiety
Patients are fearful not only about what could be wrong with them and how physically debilitating it might be but also about whether it will debilitate them financially. Unsure of the cost of care and whether they will be able to cover it, consumers are still delaying necessary care. The healthcare future these consumers are demanding involves greater price transparency. They understand there might be price ranges rather than an exact price, but having a general idea of the cost of care would help ease their fears. Providers need to communicate with patients and explain how measures taken are meant to ensure the right care is being given to the right patient. Even a heightened focus on the most basic communication about what will happen next and when can have a huge, positive effect on alleviating patients’ fear and anxiety during their hospital stay.
6. Involvement of Family and Friends
Consumers involve family and friends from the beginning of their care selection process. Patients also heal more quickly when family and friends are involved in their treatment, so the more healthcare organizations can accommodate loved ones, the better the healing environment will be. Providers need to allow family members and friends to spend time with the patient and help them find appropriate ways to advocate for and support their loved one. Those family members and friends designated by the patient as caregivers should be included in clinician-led patient discussions and be kept well informed about the patient’s condition and what to expect after discharge.
7. Continuity and Transition
Consumers want to be sure that if they are admitted to a hospital, they will be able to return home as soon as possible. They want to recover completely and are often nervous that if they go to the hospital, they won’t come home or won’t know what to do when they go home. Contacting patients once they are home instills confidence and ensures the ability to administer self-care, which has demonstrated significant improvements in outcomes.
Accordingly, the more information made available online and outside the actual care environment (e.g., discharge instructions, follow-up appointments needed), the better. In addition to being educated about various conditions, consumers love to see evidence of the hospital’s focus on wellness, such as organized support groups. When these types of “off campus” resources are made available to patients, they will be less nervous about their diagnosis or about receiving care “on campus.”
8. Access to Care
First steps are often first clicks as consumers peruse hospital and health system websites to find care. “How to find a physician” and “patient ratings/reviews of doctors” rank as the top two useful pieces of information on a website. Additionally, convenient locations, easy access and proximity are the top differentiators cited by consumers when asked what sets one healthcare brand apart from the rest, slightly outpacing insurance acceptance, compassionate care, use of advanced technology and other important attributes.
Consumers are open—even looking forward—to new care opportunities and settings. They have come around on receiving care in retail settings because of convenience, but they are even more interested if these settings are convenient and connected. Does this mean they no longer desire to be seen at the doctor’s office or in a more traditional setting? Not necessarily, but the bottleneck has become unbearable. Coming out of COVID, and in an industry of constricted resources and workforce, not having to wait months to receive care is becoming an increasing luxury for many consumers and only underpins the importance of timely and convenient access.
Editor’s Note: This content has been excerpted from the book Patient No Longer: How YOU Can Lead the Consumer Revolution in Healthcare, Second Edition. It has been edited for length.