The Beryl Institute Report: Perception of Care Slipping Among Patients

The tenth release of The Beryl Institute - Ipsos PX Pulse continues to look at trends in the human experience in healthcare. The results of this survey of over 1000 adults in the United States gives us insight into:

• How people perceive the quality of care
• What healthcare issues are most important to people
• How people would rate their recent experience in healthcare
• How a person’s recent experience affects their healthcare decisions
• What matters most to people in their healthcare experience

This is the first PX Pulse in the new reality of living with COVID and the results show that the strains on the healthcare system are reflected in the experience people are having and the priorities they have.

According to the report, these are some of the key takeaways:

• Consumers’ perception of quality of healthcare slides 6 percentage points to its lowest point since we first started tracking.

• The perception of experience has also slipped to an all-time low at 64% reflecting it as “Very good” or “Good.”

• Cost continues to be top of mind for and most important to the U.S. consumer, led by out-of-pocket costs (41%), affordable insurance options (39%) and cost of premiums (36%) as the most important healthcare issues.

When consumers were asked what was most important to them, communication was at the top of the list. Being listened to and being communicated with clearly in a way they could understand were the top two items in the list. Patients also prioritized quality, safety, and care planning, but in the top 10 items they cared most about were also being treated with respect, having their pain taken seriously, and being asked questions. In other words, five of the top ten were about communication and how they were being treated. The other five were about the care itself.

This reflects data from past surveys that suggest that patients’ choices can be affected as much by their experience as by the quality of the provider or care. The survey data show that 33% of people chose not to go back to the provider or location after a bad experience.

Another item of interest in the report was the section on trust in healthcare. According to the report:

• Almost 90% of consumers see trust as “Extremely important” or “Very important”, while 68% say trust has declined in the last two years.

• “Feeling as though the healthcare system acts out of self-interest rather than mine as a patient” is the top reason people’s trust has eroded with 48% selecting this issue.

• Addressing the ability to get care in a timely manner (50%), listening to and treating people with respect (44%) and providing transparency in pricing (40%) are the top avenues identified by consumers to rebuilding trust in healthcare.

The report concluded with thoughts on the path ahead:

“While diminishing numbers in quality, experience and trust may feel disheartening, they reflect the larger realities in the world that healthcare now operates. What is evident is that not only is the path forward clear, but the opportunities healthcare has in front of it are bright. In keeping things simple, in honoring the person in front of us, in living the central idea that in healthcare we are human beings caring for human beings and then in executing on plans to reinforce those fundamentals, the opportunities for healthcare’s future far outweigh the challenges in our way. It is now up to each of us to choose this clear focus and act.”

This reflects much of what was shared at the recent NGPX 2022 conference, which was summarized in this blog post. The focus there was on getting back to basics to address the experience of patients, families, visitors and staff. Look at how to streamline processes, simplify interactions, and centralize much of the tools meant for patients. A great example of that is serving up a premium mobile experience where all the patient-facing digital tools are housed in a single mobile platform.

To learn more about the state of the human experience in healthcare, download the full report from The Beryl Institute.