Enhancing the Patient Experience

Emergency physician Leana Wen shared five ideas for providers to improve care results and enhance the patient experience. Ultimately, these actions would allow for patients’ voices to be better heard while navigating the care system: 

1.    Engage Patients: Patients should be viewed as equal partners in the care process since there are many valuable things that can be learned from their perspective.  

2.    Focus on Listening: While new technology continues to improve care delivery, a whopping 80% of diagnoses can be made simply by listening more closely.

3.    Diagnoses Trump Tests: Patients should be told to seek a diagnosis and not an expensive high-end test. Wen asks, "How can we restructure the [electronic medical record] in a way that actually accomplishes our overall goal of reducing misdiagnoses and unnecessary tests."

4.    Bring Care to Patients: Healthcare is no longer just a patient going to their doctor. From telemedicine to concierge medicine, healthcare is increasingly more about how providers can meet patients where they are for faster and easier access to care. 

5.    Take Advantage of Data: There are so many opportunities for healthcare providers to align population health goals with public health goals by utilizing data dashboards.

Many healthcare providers can do more to improve care results and to enhance the consumer experience. Wen said that, "Ultimately ... we're here to make sure that our patients are better at the end of the day, and that we're delivering cost efficient but also quality healthcare.”

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