Cayman Islands Health Services Authority and NRC Picker collaborate to measure and improve what matters most to patients

The Cayman Islands Health Services Authority (HSA) is partnering with NRC Picker to better understand the patient experience and quality of care issues as seen through the eyes of the HSA’s patients.

The HSA’s mission is to provide the highest quality healthcare and improve the well-being of people in the Cayman Islands through accessible, sustainable patient-focused services by highly-skilled, empowered and caring staff in collaboration with our partners.

HSA CEO Lizzette Yearwood explained, “In fulfilling that mission, the HSA strives to create an environment focused on the needs of the patient and their family. We are pleased to be working with the NRC Picker team which is committed to working with us to measure and improve the most important aspects of the patient experience.”

NRC Picker is the only global research firm providing integrated delivery of patient experience research and evidence-based best practices designed to improve the patient-centered care. The survey instruments and improvement tools are built on the foundation of more than 7,000 interviews and focus groups conducted by the Picker Institute and Harvard University. This ground-breaking research identified what matters most to patients and was the first to define patient-centered care.

That research also yielded the Eight Dimensions of Patient-Centered Care: Respect for Patient Values, Preferences and Needs; Coordination and Integration of Care; Information and Education; Physical Comfort; Emotional Support; Involvement of Family and Friends; Transition and Continuity; and Access to Care. NRC Picker determined that focusing measurement and accountability around the Eight Dimensions of Patient-Centered Care, hospitals can directly improve the quality of care and the patient experience.

NRC Picker’s philosophy of patient-centered care first went mainstream with various statewide public reporting initiatives and now has gained national adoption in the United States through HCAHPS. This standardized survey of hospital patients captures patients’ unique perspectives on hospital care for the purpose of providing the public with comparable information on hospital quality, providing data that the HSA can use to improve the patient experience.

CayCompass.com – 17 January 2013