Press Ganey Releases Milestone Study Defining the New Consumerism in the COVID-19 Era

New report reveals that building patient–provider trust through continuous data collection and analytics is key to driving care improvement amid change and uncertainty.

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Announcing its latest research into the evolving concerns and needs of the health care consumer, Press Ganey today released a pioneering report, COVID-19 and the New Consumerism: The Critical Importance of Humanity and Building Trust. Based on analyses of data from millions of patients during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic and more than 3.5 million telemedicine visits, the paper outlines how the pandemic has altered patients’ perceptions of high-quality care and identifies immediate actions providers can take to reestablish the foundation of trust with their patients and caregivers to enable optimal care. Using insights derived from artificial intelligence (AI) analyses of patient comments, the report provides specific recommendations for measuring and building trust using an approach grounded in high reliability operating principles with a strategy for collecting, integrating, and analyzing data to provide actionable insights to drive improvement.

“This pandemic has tested every aspect of the care delivery system, yet the true mission of health care—to deliver reliably safe, high-quality, patient-centered care—remains the same,” said Patrick T. Ryan, Chairman and CEO, Press Ganey. “Health care will continue be a human-to-human endeavor, and with the rapid pace of change in the era of coronavirus, patients are seeking assurances from their providers now more than ever. The focus on shiny apps and convenience that started the year has rapidly evolved to the overwhelming need by patients to trust that they can safely seek care. Earning and building that trust requires more than good intentions. It requires an effective and comprehensive data strategy that produces insights that can drive better performance.”

The report highlights the data considerations that most directly impact the ability to build trust in the COVID-19 era.

• Continued surveying of patients and caregivers remains critical. This is a time when capturing regular feedback is essential to guide the creation of evolving care models. Seeking input from patients and caregivers is perceived as a measure of respect and is a meaningful demonstration of leadership’s genuine commitment to their values.
• Robust analyses of patient comments provide a valuable window through which to uncover deeper insights. Giving patients and caregivers the opportunity to make comments provides the raw material for Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (AI/NLP) analysis to extract insights on issues that are not the direct focus of survey questions yet provide more pointed feedback to complement survey data.
• Point-of-care and pulse surveying helps create a virtuous cycle of trust. Capturing point-of-care feedback by utilizing rounding tools provides an element of real-time performance assessment across a patient population, enabling teams to identify and address critical issues in real time. Similarly, regular caregiver pulse surveys help organizations quickly understand and resolve concerns, which drives trust in managers and senior leadership.

“For most people, health care is usually a low-frequency, high-stakes interaction,” said Dr. Thomas H. Lee, Chief Medical Officer, Press Ganey. “When people need care, they are intently focused on knowing that the quality is excellent and that it is safe. To achieve these goals, leaders should commit to using a data-driven approach to guide actions, responding to insights derived from feedback, and integrating high reliability operating principles across their organizations.”

A copy of the white paper, COVID-19 and the New Consumerism: The Critical Importance of Humanity and Building Trust, is available for download.

About Press Ganey

Press Ganey pioneered the health care performance improvement movement 35 years ago. Today Press Ganey offers an integrated suite of solutions that enable enterprise transformation across the patient journey. Delivered through a cutting-edge digital platform built on a foundation of data security, Press Ganey solutions address safety, clinical excellence, patient experience, and workforce engagement. The company works with more than 41,000 health care facilities in its mission to reduce patient suffering and enhance caregiver resilience to improve the overall safety, quality, and experience of care.

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Jayme Maniatis, 781-684-0770