CIHI measures patient satisfaction in hospitals

OTTAWA – For the first time, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is releasing patient experience survey data, shedding light on how Canadians feel about care received during a hospital stay.

The report, Patient Experience in Canadian Hospitals, looks at how patients felt about communication during their stay, including with and between care providers, about medications and when leaving hospital. (https://www.cihi.ca/en/patient-experience/patient-experience-in-canadian-hospitals)

Overall, Canadians who completed the survey were satisfied with communication throughout their stay, though the data highlights certain areas that warrant a closer look.

Highlights include the following:

• More than 2 in 3 patients said doctors and nurses always listened to them carefully and explained things in a way they could understand.
• About half of patients (56%) felt like their care in hospital was well-coordinated.
• 1 in 3 patients did not feel completely informed about their condition, treatment and medication when leaving the hospital.

“Understanding patients’ healthcare experiences is integral to improving quality of care and patient-centredness – a major focus for hospitals in the country,” said Kathleen Morris (pictured), vice president, research and analysis, CIHI.

Participating hospitals are using survey results to guide patient experience improvement programs.

After adopting CIHI’s survey, administrators at Ross Memorial Hospital in Kawartha Lakes, Ontario learned that their patients reported not having enough information when discharged from the hospital.

The hospital turned data into action by implementing the Patient Oriented Discharge Summary (PODS), a program co-developed with patients by University Health Network’s OpenLabs, to improve its results.

The program ensures that patients have all necessary instructions in writing when leaving the hospital. After a successful pilot in two units, PODS spread across Ross Memorial.

Two years later, the hospital’s overall patient experience results have improved by 12 percentage points, from 46% to 58%.

“Our patient experience survey results show us that our patients are feeling more confident about their care at home. Ensuring that they truly understand the next steps in their journey is key to our patients’ safe recovery,” said Anne Overhoff, vice president, clinical, and chief nursing executive, Ross Memorial Hospital.

The Canadian Patient Experiences Survey – Inpatient Care (CPES-IC) is the first pan-Canadian survey collecting comparable information from patients about their hospital stays. Accreditation Canada has endorsed the CPES-IC as a survey tool for use in accreditation in Canada.

The survey, which is administered by the provinces, enables patients to provide feedback about the quality of care they experienced during their most recent stay in a Canadian acute care hospital. It also provides standards and supporting documentation for those who are administering the survey.

At the time of analysis, over 90,000 survey responses from over 300 hospitals in five provinces had been received. The use of the survey continues to grow quickly across the country. Further reporting of a small set of three to five patient experience measures at a facility level is planned for spring 2020.

About CIHI
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides essential information on Canada’s health systems and the health of Canadians. We provide comparable and actionable data and information that are used to accelerate improvements in healthcare, health system performance and population health across Canada. Our stakeholders use our broad range of health system databases, measurements and standards, together with our evidence-based reports and analyses, in their decision-making processes. We protect the privacy of Canadians by ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the healthcare information we provide.