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Patient experience: determinants and manifestations

Moutasem Zakkar (School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada)

International Journal of Health Governance

ISSN: 2059-4631

Article publication date: 13 May 2019

Issue publication date: 12 July 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

Patient experience is a complex multidimensional phenomenon that has been linked to constructs that are also complex to conceptualize, such as patient-centeredness, patient expectations and patient satisfaction. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the different dimensions of patient experience, including those that receive inadequate attention from policymakers such as the patient’s lived experience of illness and the impact of healthcare politics. The paper proposes a simple classification for these dimensions, which differentiates between two types of dimensions: the determinants and the manifestations of patient experience.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses a narrative review of the literature to explore select constructs and initiatives developed for theorizing or operationalizing patient experience. Literature topics reviewed include healthcare quality, medical anthropology, health policy, healthcare system and public health.

Findings

The paper identifies five determinants for patient experience: the experience of illness, patient’s subjective influences, quality of healthcare services, health system responsiveness and the politics of healthcare. The paper identifies two manifestations of patient experience: patient satisfaction and patient engagement.

Originality/value

The paper proposes a classification scheme of the dimensions of patient experience and a concept map that links together heterogeneous constructs related to patient experience. The proposed classification and the concept map provide a holistic view of patient experience and help healthcare providers, quality managers and policymakers organize and focus their healthcare quality improvement endeavors on specific dimensions of patient experience while taking into consideration the other dimensions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author declares no conflict of interest. This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors. The author would like to thank Dr Samantha Meyer, Dr Craig Janes and Dr Martin Cooke at the University of Waterloo, Canada, for sharing their knowledge and expertise on the topics addressed in this paper. The author is also very grateful to the two “anonymous” reviewers for their insightful comments and questions.

Citation

Zakkar, M. (2019), "Patient experience: determinants and manifestations", International Journal of Health Governance, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 143-154. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHG-09-2018-0046

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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