Prioritizing the Precursors of Patients’ Experience in Indian Corporate Hospitals: Application of hybrid RIDIT-GRA approach

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to identify, understand, and prioritize the influence of distinct patient experience (PX) antecedents that have substantial evidence in shaping the patients’ preferences and experiences in Indian corporate hospitals. The study is expected to assist healthcare managers in the personalization and alignment of clinical services with consumer expectations and demands.

Design/ Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted across eight corporate hospitals to collect 220 patient data samples. A recent measurement model, titled ‘Patient Experience Questionnaire’, was adopted to harness pre-validated PX factors and related items. Further, two independent prioritization techniques, Relative to an Identified distribution (RIDIT) analysis and Grey Relational Analysis (GRA), were executed to render item precedence of the precursors of PX.

Results: Through RIDIT, items belonging to factors 'doctor services' and 'nursing services' secured favorable performance ratings, whereas items under 'information' and 'next-of-kin' obtained comparatively less favorable responses. There was evidence of minimal deviations when the results were verified through GRA, but the ranks obtained in both the independent techniques (RIDIT & GRA) revealed a robust correlation of 99.5%. Moreover, the applicability of two independent prioritization techniques enhances the rigor and reliability of findings. 

Conclusions: Although the respondents were mostly satisfied with their care providers, an effective provider-patient communication was not evident in the care system. Patients seemed to be overly dependent on their physicians and showed limited intention to participate in a collaborative process. Lack of patient-centric culture, deficit infrastructure, excessive workload on healthcare providers, and restricted translation of patient-centric concepts into practice deterred organizations from fully benefiting from patients' involvement in clinical facets.