Performance Improvement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Performance Improvement - Research Paper Example Evidently, there is a weak link between healthcare spending and patient experience. In this context, it is advisable for health organizations to review their health delivery policies and think how their health budget could effectively enhance patient experience. Evidences suggest that efficiency of workflow is the key to improve patient experience, and in turn a number of factors such as time, process designs, and procedural efficacy may influence workflow efficiency. This performance improvement paper will discuss how improving workflow can contribute to enhanced patient experience by reducing wait-times. The paper will also address the outcomes of a one on one meeting with the finance team, patient experience team, and patients. The term workflow refers to the sequence of administrative and other processes through which a particular healthcare work passes from initiation to completion. As mentioned already, time is a crucial component of workflow such that a long wait time would contribute badly to patient experience. According to a Press Ganey article (2010), US patients have been experiencing the longest wait times in emergency departments since 2002. The report says that in 2009 a US patient spent an average of four hours and seven minutes in the emergency department from the moment he entered the room until the time he was discharged. This average time spent was 31 minutes more than the national average in 2002 and indicated an increase of four minutes compared to 2008 (Press Ganey, 2010). Previous researches have established a clear negative relationship between long wait time and patient satisfaction. According to one finding, â€Å"patient wait time for medical care has a direct impact on patient sa tisfaction, medical compliance, return show rate and patient attitudes toward clinicians, staff and clinics in general† (Cuevas & Joseph, n.d). To illustrate, researchers including Anderson, Camacho, and Balkrishnan (2007) conducted a study to evaluate the