Beyond The Numbers: How Qualitative Feedback Can Transform Patient Experiences

The Critical Role of Qualitative Data

In today's healthcare landscape, there has never been a greater need to effectively and efficiently improve patient experiences. As healthcare systems face increasing complexity and resource constraints, leaders and decision-makers are constantly seeking solutions to overcome challenges and enhance care encounters and outcomes. One impactful strategy is leveraging patient feedback to identify areas of friction, opportunities for improvement, and what is already working well.

Patient feedback is traditionally collected through quantitative metrics, which are useful as they allow an organization to use the numerical data to track trends and patterns, allowing for benchmarking and comparison over time and across different patient groups. However, there is significant evidence to support that qualitative patient feedback holds the most valuable insights with the potential to transform healthcare experiences, primarily because of the actionable nature of the comments.  

A study in BMJ Open highlighted that qualitative patient feedback directly influences quality improvement initiatives in hospitals, as this kind ofhis feedback includes detailed comments on various aspects of patient care, thus leading to specific actions like improving meal quality, reducing wait times, and enhancing overall patient comfort [1].

Similarly, an analysis in the Journal of Public Health emphasized the impact of patient comments on their overall healthcare experience. Patients' qualitative feedback on feeling safe, experiencing effective treatment, and transitioning smoothly between care settings are crucial for healthcare providers to understand and address patient needs more effectively [2].

From Data to Action

To further illustrate the actionability of qualitative feedback, consider this; a common question many experience surveys ask, “During this encounter/hospital stay, how often were you treated with dignity and respect?”.  While aggregated quantitative responses can help an organization better understand patients’ high-level perception, they lack the detail needed to drive specific improvements. By asking a qualitative follow-up question, such as, “please explain why you gave this rating”, patients can articulate the specific aspects of their experience that contributed to their perception. This detailed feedback equips organizations with actionable insights.

Building on the example above, perhaps patients regularly report in their free-text feedback, that healthcare providers seemed rushed, did not call them by their preferred name, and rarely drew the curtain when performing care. These tangible details can guide training for team members, allowing organizations to focus on the aspects of care that matter most to patients and contribute to more positive outcomes.

Improved patient experiences are well-documented to lead to better outcomes, including:

• Enhanced trust and communication with care teams
• Increased adherence to care plans
• Reduced risk of safety incidents

Given the complementary nature of quantitative and qualitative feedback, organizations must invest in robust patient feedback collection, analysis and utilization processes in order to meaningfully improve experiences and outcomes.

Making the Most of Qualitative Feedback Despite Lacking Time and Resources

While qualitative data is invaluable, we recognize that collating, analyzing, and theming it can be time-consuming and challenging in today's healthcare environment. 

At Lime, we are dedicated to helping our clients maximize the value of their feedback while reducing the workload for healthcare teams. To this end, Lime has recently launched the first iteration of its AI-assisted text and sentiment analysis tool. This enhancement supports clients in deriving deeper insights more efficiently and effectively through:

• Extremely accurate text and sentiment analysis;
• Feedback categorization into various sentiments ranging from “very positive” to “negative” to “mixed”;
• Detailed quote breakdowns, since a single message can contain multiple valuable pieces of information;
• Thematic organization of quotes, ensuring each comment is associated with relevant themes such as patient safety, communication, or waiting times. This feature enables quick identification of recurring themes in patient feedback, allowing for the development of timely action plans.

Our Text and Sentiment Analysis tool is designed to help healthcare organizations harness the full potential of patient feedback, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and celebrate successes. At Lime, we are dedicated to continuously enhancing our tools to better serve our clients' needs and support the mission of delivering exceptional patient care. Learn more on our Experience Module.

1. Berger S, Saut AM, Berssaneti FT. “Using patient feedback to drive quality improvement in hospitals: a qualitative study”. BMJ Open 2020;10:e037641. doi:10. Online: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/10/e037641.full.pdf
2. Adams C, Walpota R, Pervaz Iqbal M, Schembri A, Harrison R. “The three pillars of patient experience: identifying key drivers of patient experience to improve quality in healthcare”. Journal of Public Health https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-023-02158-y. Online: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10389-023-02158-y