A/Professor Michael Greco CEO

Leading the way in transparency and accountability: A new era for incorporating the patient voice into health service improvement

PV = HO + PE C

What are your challenges in regards to consumer engagement with service improvement? How do you measure patient experience right across all your health services? How independent is this? In what way do all your patients have access to a say about their healthcare experience? How do patients know if they have “been heard”? How do you demonstrate to your patients that you are responsive to their concerns, in a visible and transparent way? How do your patients see what other patients are saying? How do you gauge the broader community needs? How does your organisation allow staff to see through the eyes of the patient in real-time? How do you inform patients and the broader community that you have made quality improvements based on their feedback?

Australian drivers All healthcare organisations required to seek feedback on patient experience and to demonstrate their responsiveness to this feedback. Examples ACSQHC Standard 2 – ‘Partnering with Consumers’ National Health Performance Authority – KPIs

What is the role of the Web and social media?

People are using the web to comment on health services

The social media Is changing the way we interact with the health system People just don’t want to simply “rate” a service like a film – healthcare more important than that What we are finding is that: People want to tell their stories – good, bad or indifferent People want real exchanges with their health providers. Different kind of relationship – more equal, more collaborative, and more transparent A responsive health service has the power to heal, just like face-to-face relationships in care

But …….. Health services are concerned about social media because of: Independence – no internal control; prefer in-house Public nature – too much transparency No right of reply – not a partnership Potentially damaging comments, particularly if no opportunity for a response

But……………… Patients want on-line feedback to be: Independent – from being skewed; no hidden agenda Safe – stories are in ‘good hands’ (moderation) Responsive – opportunity for health service to comment Anonymous – so that care won’t be affected Public – transparent/accountable; more difficult to ignore Constructive – it’s about service improvement Accessible – easy to use; real-time

How can we bring these two worlds together?

Patient Opinion Australia Not-for-profit charity Allows health organisations to be in control of social media stories rather than have it done to them It does this by getting their stories to the right people within the health service. Impacts on an organisation’s patient-centric culture Real-time feedback and real-time improvement Our aim is to support health services to be the best they can be, through constructive feedback Is a social movement worldwide – UK, Israel, Italy, Spain, Canada and others.

Background Founded in the UK in 2005 by two doctors Having a voice is not the same as ‘being heard’ Needed a platform to bring two dialogues together (surveys which dissect the patient, and web-based comments) to enable the newly democratised voices to speak in ways that health organisations can hear and respond to, that is visible to all It’s about honest and meaningful conversations between patients and health services – it’s a partnership. It’s more than a website. It allows staff to see through the eyes of the patient in real-time. We believe that the patient’s story can help make health services better – it’s all about service improvement.

Background (continued….) Quality can no longer be assumed; it has to be demonstrated – in a visible way Patient Opinion works because healthcare organisations are able to easily hear this feedback – in real time. We help make sense of the feedback and data, giving busy staff a simple way to make cost-effective, measurable improvements – that are visible to everyone!

Patient Opinion is: Not a doctor-rating site like www.rateMD.com Not a site where patients can gripe about health services without being constructive Not a website only – it’s a social platform for the Australian public to engage with their health services, focusing on quality improvement Not a way for health services to keep to themselves what patients are saying about them – the Australian public want transparency

The structure of conversations on Patient Opinion

Patient Opinion website

How do Subscribers see Patient Opinion Constructive tone – allays fears because it’s about service improvement Not-for-profit charity – no hidden agenda Independent – important for credibility Accessible – engages variety of service users Moderated – offset risk of potentially ‘damaging’ posts

What are the benefits for hospitals? Addresses many of the Standard 2 indicators of ACSQHC Provides ‘merit’ evidence to AHPA re demonstrating KPIs for the PAF Demonstrates to the public your commitment to listening to and responding to the voice of the consumer Supports community and patient engagement Adds social value – benefitting the community to have their voice ‘heard’ and shaping quality of health services Applicable across any health service, especially hard-to-reach groups Enhances staff’s understanding of patient experience of services Real-time reports to the Board Provides the ‘edge’ in funding applications

Contact details www.patientopinion.org.au info@patientopinion.org.au