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1 – 10 of over 35000Farah Nabi, Stephen Gallay, Erik Hellsten, Joel Lobo and Jesse Slade Shantz
The Canadian healthcare system is recognized as one of the best health systems in the world. However, recent social and economic conditions have placed significant…
Abstract
The Canadian healthcare system is recognized as one of the best health systems in the world. However, recent social and economic conditions have placed significant pressure on system administrators to demonstrate value-for-money for the investments made with an increased scrutiny on service delivery and cost structures. Challenges in providing more efficient healthcare often resonate two key constraints: the shortage of overall funding and barriers to accessing appropriate service providers in a timely fashion. The most common solution is simply to increase service provider manpower and invest further financial resources.
In Ontario, Canada’s largest province, The Shoulder Centre (TSC) has introduced a transformative solution to address system constraints through the development of an innovative and comprehensive model of care which builds on (1) novel partnerships between community providers and the Centre’s clinical team, (2) A Patient-Centered Specialty Practice (PCSP) and (3) Leveraging technology solutions.
TSC’s model of care suggests that many challenges in healthcare are attributed to the inappropriate management of human capital and the under-development of social capital. As a solution, TSC has transformed the organizational structure of its health services by converting service providers into partners with shared accountabilities, resulting in economic value through human capital optimization and improved system efficiencies through the building of social capital. TSC’s performance results demonstrate measured system savings, increased patient and provider satisfaction, targeted knowledge growth and confirms that the healthcare system contains a greater than expected abundance of human and financial resources to provide access to appropriate and timely care without any further system investment.
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Jennifer L. Hefner, Ann Scheck McAlearney, Nicole Spatafora and Susan D. Moffatt-Bruce
High patient satisfaction is not simply a customer service goal; it is an important dimension of quality and part of financial incentives and public reporting…
Abstract
High patient satisfaction is not simply a customer service goal; it is an important dimension of quality and part of financial incentives and public reporting requirements. However, patient experience is often siloed within health system organizational charts and considered separately from quality and safety initiatives, instead of being seen predominantly as a “customer service” initiative. Representatives from 52 health care systems across the United States completed an online survey to explore both the processes and infrastructure hospitals employ to improve patient experience, and the metrics hospitals use to assess the quality of patient experience beyond patient satisfaction survey data. When asked about performance metrics beyond satisfaction, most hospitals or systems noted other metrics of the entire patient experience such as the rate of complaints or grievances and direct feedback from patient and family advisors. Additionally, respondents suggested that a broader definition of “quality of the patient experience” may be appropriate to encompass measures of access, clinical processes, and quality of care and patient safety outcomes. Almost all respondents that we surveyed listed metrics from these less traditional categories, indicating that performance improvement within the patient experience domain in these organizations is linked with other areas of hospital performance that rely on the same metrics, such as clinical quality and patient safety.
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Pouyan Esmaeilzadeh, Spurthy Dharanikota and Tala Mirzaei
Patient-centric exchanges, a major type of Health Information Exchange (HIE), empower patients to aggregate and manage their health information. This exchange model helps…
Abstract
Purpose
Patient-centric exchanges, a major type of Health Information Exchange (HIE), empower patients to aggregate and manage their health information. This exchange model helps patients access, modify and share their medical information with multiple healthcare organizations. Although existing studies examine patient engagement, more research is required to investigate patients' attitudes and willingness to play an active role in patient-centered information exchange. The study's main objective is to develop a model based on the belief-attitude-intention paradigm to empirically examine the effects of patients' attitudes toward engagement in care on their willingness to participate in patient-centric HIE.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted an online survey study to identify the antecedents and consequences of patients' attitudes toward engagement in care. To empirically test the research model, the authors collected data from a national sample (n = 357) of individuals in the United States. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM).
Findings
The proposed model categorizes the antecedents to patients' attitudes toward engagement in patient-related and healthcare system factors. The results show that patient-related factors (perceived health literacy and perceived coping ability) and health system factors (perceived experience with the healthcare organization and perceived patient-provider interaction) significantly shape patient attitude toward care management engagement. The results indicate that patients' attitudes toward engaging in their healthcare significantly contribute to their willingness to participate in medical information sharing through patient-centric HIE initiatives. Moreover, the authors’ findings also demonstrate that the link between patient engagement and willingness to participate in HIE is stronger for individuals who perceive lower levels of privacy and security concerns.
Originality/value
The authors validate the proposed model explaining patients' perceptions about their characteristics and the healthcare system significantly influence their attitude toward engaging in their care. This study also suggests that patients' favorable attitude toward engagement can bring patient-centric HIE efforts onto a path to success. The authors’ research attempts to shed light on the importance of patients' roles in adopting patient-centric HIE initiatives. Theoretical and practical contributions of this study are noticeable since they could result in a deeper understanding of the concept of patient engagement and how it may affect healthcare services in an evolving digital world. The authors’ findings can help healthcare organizations provide public citizen-centric services by introducing user-oriented approaches in healthcare delivery systems.
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Watchara Tabootwong and Frank Kiwannuka
Elderly patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation are treated with a tracheostomy. Oftentimes, the family caregivers need to participate in the care for elderly…
Abstract
Purpose
Elderly patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation are treated with a tracheostomy. Oftentimes, the family caregivers need to participate in the care for elderly patients with a tracheostomy during hospitalization. Therefore, this paper was conducted to acknowledge what family caregivers experience while caregiving for hospitalized elderly patients with a tracheostomy.
Design/methodology/approach
This literature review identifies family caregiver participation in caregiving for the elderly patient, the impact of caregiving, and the needs of family caregivers.
Findings
Family caregivers participate in the planning and provision of care to elderly patients. Furthermore, they also collaborate in the therapeutic process for elderly patients as well. Albeit the former sentiments, they experience physical, psychological, social and financial consequences of caregiving. It has been revealed that during the process of caring for their loved ones, family caregivers often experience poor sleep quality, strain, reduction in social interaction and insufficient income. Thus, health-care professionals should support and provide care for the needs of family caregivers. This can be achieved through providing information on prognosis, the care plan, emotional support and collaboration during the therapeutic process to provide better care for elderly patients with a tracheostomy. In addition, family caregivers’ relatives can also provide financial support and rotation of caregiving schedules to avoid burnout.
Originality/value
The paper indicates that family caregivers experience the impacts of caregiving. They should be supported by health-care professionals and their relatives.
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Yusi Cheng, Wei Wei, Yunying Zhong and Lu Zhang
This paper aims to explore how hospitable telemedicine services empowered patients during the COVID-19. Expanding from the technology aspect, this research integrated the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how hospitable telemedicine services empowered patients during the COVID-19. Expanding from the technology aspect, this research integrated the philosophy of hospitality organizational culture by including factors related to human-human interaction as significant predictors for patients’ sense of empowerment (perceived competence and control) in coping with their emotional stress (anxiety and isolation).
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were obtained from 409 general consumers who have used video-based virtual consultation since February 2020. Stepwise multiple regression and simple linear regression analyses were used for hypotheses testing.
Findings
The results reveal that the doctors’ reliability, responsiveness and empathy significantly predict patients’ perceived competence and control. Perceived usefulness and convenience of telemedicine technology enhance patients’ perceived competence and control. Patients’ sense of empowerment significantly reduces their anxiety and sense of isolation.
Research limitations/implications
To fully understand the role of hospitality in people’s telemedicine experiences, future studies are encouraged to not only examine the patients-clinicians interactions but also explore the patients-support staff interactions.
Practical implications
Health-care service providers’ “bed-side” manners empower patients in managing their emotional stress. Health-care service providers should be trained for their empathetic ability and communication skills. Strategies such as collaborating with hospitality schools and business schools can be implemented to help build medical student’s patient-centric attitudes and skills.
Originality/value
This paper provided empirical evidence for the value of hospitality in health care and offered useful suggestions for health care providers, especially by empowering vulnerable people during catastrophic events such as COVID-19.
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Shahidul Islam and Nazlida Muhamad
The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) has been recognized as a “gold standard” set of “practical standardized measures” for…
Abstract
Purpose
The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) has been recognized as a “gold standard” set of “practical standardized measures” for assessing hospital service quality. Beginning with the HCAHPS, the purpose of this paper is to extend efforts to assess patient-centered communication (PCC) and the quality of healthcare and presents a scale for measuring patient perceptions and expectations of service quality in an emerging economy context.
Design/methodology/approach
A self-administered survey of patients in private hospitals (N = 171) was conducted to test the proposed framework. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to establish the measurement model. Multiple regression analysis was used to explain the scale's predictive ability. ANOVA was used to analyze service quality gaps and rank patients' priorities.
Findings
Five components of PCC are identified. Among these, nurse affective communication has a significant positive effect on patient satisfaction. The gap analysis shows that patients have high expectations for doctors' affective communication, while they perceive a low level of service performance in the realm of nurse affective communication. The study highlights a new means of measuring “reliability” in healthcare. Important findings on patients' priorities are evaluated and discussed.
Practical implications
Healthcare organizations and practitioners can improve patient-centered care by stressing the dimensions of PCC, including clinicians' affective and instrumental communication.
Originality/value
The study expands the understanding of HCAHPS instruments in an emerging economy context and opens avenues for more widespread use of the measures. The research contributes to the literature on patient-centered care and healthcare service quality by proposing a scale for managing specific practices and interactions in healthcare.
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Gareth Hutchinson and Stefanie Caroline Linden
This study aims to explore views and attitudes of doctors, patients and medical students in regard to Functional Neurological Disorders (FND), a common presentation in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore views and attitudes of doctors, patients and medical students in regard to Functional Neurological Disorders (FND), a common presentation in neurological and psychiatric practice.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 clinicians and obtained online questionnaires from 21 patients and 75 medical students. We applied thematic analysis.
Findings
The clinician and patient surveys highlighted the importance of the therapeutic relationship and need for transparent communication. However, patients criticised excessive reliance on online resources in doctor–patient communication. They also emphasised the relevance of triggering life events, which was not a prominent theme for clinicians. Medical students had only scant knowledge of the concept of functional neurological disorder.
Practical implications
A good therapeutic relationship is considered central for outcome of FND by both clinicians and patients. The survey of medical students has identified considerable gaps in undergraduate medical education in FND. The patient survey can inform recommendations for the explanation of aetiological models and treatment options in clinical practice.
Originality/value
This is the first study exploring the attitudes of clinicians, medical students and patients to FND. The study highlights potential areas of disagreement between these groups.
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Agnė Gadeikienė, Asta Pundzienė and Aistė Dovalienė
The rise of telehealth is evident worldwide, especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic situation, and is providing extensive opportunities for health-care organisations to…
Abstract
Purpose
The rise of telehealth is evident worldwide, especially now with the COVID-19 pandemic situation, and is providing extensive opportunities for health-care organisations to create added value for different stakeholders. However, even in this extreme situation, the progress of telehealth is quite slow and insufficient. In this context, it is necessary to consider how the application of telehealth services allows co-creating additional value for different stakeholders. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to explore telehealth services and the added value that they co-create for various stakeholders across publicly and privately oriented health-care ecosystems.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopted a qualitative research design based on an explorative and comparative approach to study the perceived added value that is co-created during telehealth encounters. The authors deployed a semi-structured interview research design. Interviews were carried out in two settings that have different health-care systems: Lithuania (publicly oriented health care) and the California Bay Area, USA, (privately oriented health care). The research covers telehealth services from the point of view of different stakeholders in the health-care ecosystem.
Findings
The paper emphasises that value-in-use is essential in the case of telehealth; however, value-in-exchange is relevant to describe the relationships between public and private insurers and health-care providers. The findings point out that despite the type of health-care system, telehealth added value-in-use was perceived quite similar in both research settings, and differences could be distinguished mainly at the sub-dimensional level. The added value-in-use for patients comprises economic, functional and emotional value; physicians potentially get functional added value-in-use. The authors also highlight that patients and physicians get relational functional and social value-in-use. The added value-in-use for health-care providers consists of economic (in both research settings) and functional value (in Lithuania). The research findings show that there is still an evident lack of health insurance companies ready to recognise telehealth as a valuable service and to reimburse similarly to in cases of in-person visits. Thus, the added value-in-exchange is hardly created and this impedes co-creation of the added value-in-use.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the field mainly by transferring the business research applied concept of value co-creation into the social-purpose driven health-care industry. The findings are beneficial for the health-care management stream of the literature, which considers health care as a value-based industry. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to structure the perceived telehealth added value from the perspectives of different stakeholders and two different health-care ecosystems. This paper also gives a clearer understanding of the role of the value-in-exchange in such complex ecosystems as health care and gives reasons when it could be created in synergy with co-creation of the value-in-use. In this sense, the findings are beneficial from both marketing and innovation theoretical perspectives, as they give a special attention to value creation and co-creation phenomena analysis.
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Jaleel Mohammed, Russell Kabir, Hadeel R. Bakhsh, Diana Greenfield, Volkova Alisa Georgievna, Aleksandra Bulińska, Jayanti Rai, Anne Gonzales and Shahrukh K. Hashmi
Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients can suffer from long-term transplant-related complications that affect their quality of life and daily activities. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients can suffer from long-term transplant-related complications that affect their quality of life and daily activities. This study, a narrative review, aims to report the impact of HCT complications, the benefits of rehabilitation intervention, the need for long-term care and highlights the research gap in clinical trials involving rehabilitation.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive search strategy was performed on several databases to look for relevant articles published from 1998 to 2018. Articles published in English with the following terms were used: hematopoietic stem cell transplant, chronic graft-versus-host disease, rehabilitation, exercise, physical therapy, occupational therapy. A patient/population, intervention, comparison, and outcomes (PICO) framework was employed to ensure that the search strategies were structured and precise. Study year, design, outcome, intervention, sample demographics, setting and study results were extracted.
Findings
Of the 1,411 records identified, 51 studies underwent title/abstract screening for appropriateness, 30 were reviewed in full, and 19 studies were included in the review. The review found that, for the majority of patients who underwent HSCT and developed treatment-related complications, rehabilitation exercises had a positive impact on their overall quality of life. However, exercise prescription in this patient group has not always reflected the scientific approach; there is a lack of high-quality clinical trials in general. The review also highlights the need to educate healthcare policymakers and insurance companies responsible for rationing services to recognise the importance of offering long-term follow-up care for this patient group, including rehabilitation services.
Practical implications
A large number of HSCT patients require long-term follow-up from a multidisciplinary team, including rehabilitation specialists. It is important for healthcare policymakers and insurance companies to recognise this need and take the necessary steps to ensure that HSCT patients receive adequate long-term care. This paper also highlights the urgent need for high-quality rehabilitation trials to demonstrate the feasibility and importance of rehabilitation teams.
Originality/value
Healthcare policymakers and insurance companies need to recognise that transplant patients need ongoing physiotherapy for early identification of any functional impairments and appropriate timely intervention.
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