Measuring Patient Experience in Hospital Maternity Care

Abstract: This thesis concerns Patient Experience (PX), in hospital maternity care in Sweden. The focus lies in the development of a measure to describe the current state of PX. The thesis uses a semi-sequential mixed-methods study design; exploration of the patient journey, through qualitative methods, informs the adaptation of an existing maternity care experience survey instrument. The resulting survey instrument is tried in a pilot study and renders a composite measure of PX. Part of the analysis is dedicated to understanding the e!ect of information and communication in PX; Exploratory Factor Analysis is used to test the model and attempt an answer. The results show that it is possible to describe PX using the proposed survey instrument. The composite measure preserves di!erences in perceptions better than an arithmetic average of two discrete VAS-1 type measurements, and is more appropriate when measuring attitudes, and opinions using Likert-type measures. A three component solution describes 65.44% of the total sample variance. Determining to what degree PX is influenced by information and communication remains di"cult to quantify, but these initial results indicate that the manner of the attending sta! during aftercare and the respondent’s mastery of information during discharge are important dimensions of patients’ total PX (ANOVA R .695, R Square .483). The model’s three components are almost entirely built from items that address interpersonal skills and information assimilation. These correspond to two of the three Service Quality Dimensions, namely Interaction Quality and Outcome Quality. Most important of the three is the component “Chemistry in aftercare”. The predictive strength of the model shows merit under the context of the study and could advise further e!orts to develop measurements for PX in maternity care in a Swedish hospital setting. Lastly, this study contextualises Service Design in hospital maternity healthcare; the study therefore o!ers ample opportunity for innovation.