When engagement rises, patient ratings follow. Hospitals in the top engagement quartile are 2.5 times more likely to earn high HCAHPS scores, with these facilities reporting a 15% jump in patient satisfaction.
Over the past decade, healthcare has faced overlapping crises: caregiver burnout, nursing shortages, overrun ERs, and backlash to vaccine mandates. Stress has surged for patients, clinicians, staff, and managers alike.
The turmoil also reinforced a clear fact: the employee experience shapes every patient interaction. As systems double down on patient-centered care, they must measure and improve what employees see, hear, and feel at work.
How does employee experience connect to patient experience?
Patient experience is more than just patient satisfaction. It involves assessing all of the behaviors associated with high-quality care, such as clear communication, responsiveness of staff, and more, and how they impact patient outcomes. Research indicates that a positive patient experience is associated with higher levels of patient loyalty, less risk of medical malpractice, and lower mortality.
Research also indicates a reciprocal relationship between the patient experience and the employee experience. As care delivery models improve so does the patient experience, which enables employees to do their jobs better. Thus, better performance leads to anticipation of success, which makes employees more engaged and more responsive, and more engaged healthcare workers provide safer care compared to their lower-engaged counterparts, thus resulting in a more positive patient experience.
Research conducted by the people analytics and healthcare consulting teams at Perceptyx looked at what aspects of the employee experience have the greatest, positive impact on the patient experience. By comparing information from our healthcare employee experience database to Medicare’s most recent patient experience data, we found strong, positive relationships between employee engagement, as measured by four key elements:
- Pride in the organization
- Intent to stay
- Referral behavior
- Intrinsic motivation
These engagement elements correlate strongly with the global ratings of care, which include likelihood to recommend and overall hospital rating. As one example, facilities with a 5 (out of 5) overall hospital star rating are projected to retain an additional 3% of their workforce annually compared to all other facilities.
Additionally, we identified three data-driven employee experience areas that can have cascading benefits on the patient experience:
- Safety commitment
- Collaboration
- Recognition
Every 1% drop in nurse turnover saves the average hospital about $270,800. Facilities that reach the 4- or 5-star level often reduce turnover by an additional 3%, creating a significant cost advantage. These numbers show that improving retention also improves quality ratings.
Should healthcare systems focus on employee experience?
Industry data covering more than a million healthcare employees shows engagement slips by 12% if leaders fail to address top concerns. Our latest data confirms a 20% improvement in staff retention when organizations prioritize direct feedback and action planning.
Healthcare systems are aware of the importance of employee engagement when it comes to patient experience. However, our research has found a 10% drop in the number of healthcare systems that prioritize staff training and development in the last two years. So, there is a disconnect in understanding the reciprocal relationship and acting on it. Organizations need to understand that focusing on the patient experience is only one piece of the puzzle. They must also focus on improving the employee experience to see results across the board.
Download the full report to learn more about how EX drives PX and why it all needs to start at the top of the organization
