Association of patient experience and the quality of hospital care

The association between patient experience and the quality of hospital care is controversial. We assess the association between clinical outcomes and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) in hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Knowledge on this issue informs value-based health-care reforms. A retrospective observational study was conducted in 17 hospitals in Saudi Arabia during the period of 2019-22. Hospital data were collected on PREMs, mortality, readmission, length of stay (LOS), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), and surgical site infection. Descriptive analysis was used to describe hospital characteristics. Spearman's rho correlation tests were used to assess the correlation between these measures, and multivariate generalized linear mixed model regression analysis was used to study associations while controlling for hospital characteristics and year. Our analysis showed that PREMs were negatively correlated with hospital readmission rate (r = -0.332, P ≤. 01), LOS (r = -0.299, P ≤. 01), CLABSI (r = -0.297, P ≤. 01), CAUTI (r = -0.393, P ≤. 01), and surgical site infection (r = -0.298, P ≤. 01). The results indicated that CAUTI and LOS converged negatively with PREMs (β = -0.548, P =. 005; β = -0.873, P =. 008, respectively) and that larger hospitals tended to have better patient experience scores (β =0.009, P =. 003). Our findings suggest that better performance in clinical outcomes is associated with higher PREM scores. PREMs are not a substitute or surrogate for clinical quality. Yet, PREMs are complementary to other objective measures of patient-reported outcomes, the process of care, and clinical outcomes.