Patient-centric care and customer service in healthcare

What is patient-centred care within healthcare?

Patient-centred care (PCC) – also known as person-centred care – places patients at the heart of healthcare decisions and decision-making processes. Working collaboratively, health and social care professionals support patients to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to more effectively manage their care and to play an active role in developing their own care plans. PCC is highly individualised,

In its ‘Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Healthcare System for the 21st Century’ report, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) endorse six key dimensions of patient-centred care, stating that it must:

1.   be respectful to patients’ values, preferences, and expressed needs

2.   be coordinated and integrated

3.   provide information, communication, and education

4.   ensure physical comfort

5.   provide emotional support – relieving fear and anxiety

6.   involve family members, friends, and caregivers.

PCC is a key element of the NHS Long Term Plan, highlighting its commitment to empowering people with greater control over their own health and ensuring a higher level of personalised medical care is available as, and when, it is needed.

Why is person-centred care important in healthcare settings?

Involving people in their own care – and, further to that, ensuring they are central to their own care – is critical to delivering top-quality health and care provision. Person-centred care improves a patient’s experience of their care, promotes healthier lifestyles and habits, gives them the ability to make well-informed decisions about their health, facilitates access to the most pertinent care services, and provides the most appropriate support for a patient’s individual needs. Ultimately, it works to deliver better outcomes and overall health, wellbeing, and quality of life.

As well as reducing the impact and burden on overstretched health and social care resources, person-centred approaches aim to improve effectiveness, safety, and to reduce systemic health inequalities.

However, there are still improvements to be made. A joint Care Quality Commission, National Statistics and NHS Patient Survey Programme found that:

• only 54% of patients said they had “definitely” been involved as much as they wanted to be in decisions about their care and treatment
• 17% of patients said they did not feel they were involved in decisions made about their discharge
• 28% of patients said they did not find someone to talk to about their worries and fears during their hospital stay.

Clearly, not being included in care decisions and not receiving sufficient emotional support – as well as the myriad of other touchpoints along the care journey – can negatively impact patient experience, patient satisfaction, and the ability to meet patient needs.

How can you accurately measure patient-centred care?

The ability of healthcare providers and healthcare organisations to accurately measure the quality of person-centred care is key to future quality improvement efforts. But how can healthcare professionals identify the areas where improvements are most critical? And what metrics are most useful?

Patient-reported measures are among the most valuable, insightful sources of information. Only an individual patient themselves can provide a valid, reliable perspective regarding the level, and quality, of the care they received. After all, a patient is the only person who may determine whether care aligned with their needs, values and preferences. These measures could include questionnaires and focus groups that unpack the healthcare experience.

What are the barriers to delivering effective, person-centred care?

When designing mainstream approaches and interventions that promote person-centredness, healthcare leaders and managers should take into account a variety of factors:

• Organisational processes and systems – including whether or not IT systems can share medical records between services in advance of patient appointments
• Organisational culture – including whether or not healthcare teams, clinicians and other individuals feel equipped, and motivated, to operate in a person-centred way
• Support and buy-in from healthcare leadership – including whether or not senior leaders act as ‘change-makers’ or not, and whether teams are empowered effectively
• Patients’ individual, personal characteristics and attitudes – including how factors such as health status/condition, beliefs and preferences, and social and cultural background play into patient engagement.

These barriers – which, in some cases, can also act as enablers – exist at all levels of the health and care system.

How does customer service impact quality of care delivery – and how can it be improved?

In any industry, great customer experience and service begins with adopting a customer-centric approach – and healthcare is no different.

The end-to-end patient experience spans numerous interactions and touchpoints, including initial contact made with the healthcare facility, healthcare consultations and referrals, clinical decisions and care provision, and follow-up care. Each and every touchpoint provides an opportunity to influence, and optimise, the patient’s perception of their care quality and value.

Examples of how to enhance overall patient experience – and strengthen long-term provider-patient relationships – include:

• ensuring that every decision made benefits patients
• listening to, and respecting, patient preferences, patient needs, and patient values
• making communication as straightforward, transparent, and simple as possible – both in terms of patient interactions and between different healthcare services – and simplifying processes
• offering effective appointment scheduling and reducing wait times – for example, through greater uptake of e-health services
• ensuring continuity of care and post-appointment follow-up – including referrals and transfers
• hiring staff who are passionate about person-centred care, from frontline staff to support staff
• committing to collecting feedback and using it to inform future improvements
• upholding the six key dimensions of patient-centred care – from involving families to providing sufficient information to ensuring physical and emotional comfort and support.

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