‘Voice of the Patient’ launched for Australian hospitals and health funds
It is the first integrated patient survey tool in Australia that gathers responses from thousands of private patients
Developed by the Australian Health Service Alliance (AHSA) and Insight Actuaries, the ‘Voice of the Patient’ is the first integrated patient survey tool in Australia designed to give privately insured patients a say in their healthcare journey.
It gathers responses from thousands of private patients across the country, and from hundreds of hospital settings, to provide valuable insight into the operation and performance of systems.
Launching the Voice of the Patient after three years of data collection and independent analysis, Andrew Sando, CEO of the AHSA, said: “The Voice of the Patient creates an independent framework that enables a healthcare system – hospitals, practitioners, patients and health funds – that is constantly learning, developing and improving to benefit practitioners and patients alike.
“It ensures the patient’s views, experience and outcome objectives remain a fundamental element of every healthcare journey, through all settings and stages.”
The Voice of the Patient collects data from patients via validated measurement tools. Patient reported experience measures (PREMs) examine perceptions of experience with health services, while outcome measures (PROMs) assess perspectives on illness or care, and the impact on wellbeing.
Over the last 12 months, 45,000 patients have taken part in Voice of the Patient, making it one of the largest private patient-reported databases in Australia and giving it unrivalled insight into health system performance. The Voice of the Patient has achieved a 45 per cent response rate and cover hundreds of individual hospitals across Australia.
Daniel Erasmus, CEO of Insight Actuaries, added: “Tools such as the Voice of the Patient help to identify logjams, bottlenecks or oversights in the system, improving coordination of care and communication across settings.
“As the caretakers of the patient experience, and those at the forefront of rising demand for health services, it’s encouraging to see Australia’s hospital operators get behind groundbreaking PREMs and PROMs initiatives to improve person-centred care.”