Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Health Administration

College

College of Health Professions

First Advisor

Karen Wager

Second Advisor

Tamala S. Branham

Third Advisor

Erin Winstanley

Fourth Advisor

James S Zoller

Abstract

Health care consumers expect high quality care and outcomes that are cost effective, while hospitals focus on improving patient engagement and satisfaction and optimizing reimbursement. The nurse-patient communication process is a critical component of care for hospitalized patients. Use of technology applications to communicate patient needs may increase patient engagement in their own care while improving patient satisfaction. An expanded use of the electronic record capability has been implementation of a new patient-centric application embedded in the electronic record technology known as MyChart Bedside©. The objective of this study was to determine if there was an association between hospitalized patients using the MyChart Bedside© application and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey (HCAHPS) nurse-patient communication scores. This was a retrospective cohort study. The setting was an acute care hospital with 415 beds and the application was studied on three medical-surgical nursing units. There were 1520 patients who responded to HCAHPS surveys over a three-year time period, of which 290 patients (14%) activated the bedside application. The measurements were patient satisfaction scores for three questions related to the Communication with Nurses domain on the survey. The results of the study demonstrated a statistically significant association between the patients who activated the MyChart Bedside© application and satisfaction with nurse-patient communication compared to the satisfaction scores for those who did not activate the application during hospitalization. The activators had.26 higher satisfaction scores than non-activators (p value <.005). There was no significant association with the bedside application and satisfaction scores with age, race, or gender. In conclusion, the activation of MyChart Bedside© application, as an interactive application for patients, was associated with improved patient satisfaction and may be considered a strategy to enhance patient engagement in their own healthcare, improve satisfaction with nurse-patient communication, and support hospital reimbursement through meeting Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) initiatives.

Rights

All rights reserved. Copyright is held by the author.

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