The Voice of the Patient, the first integrated patient survey tool in Australia, has rolled out to help private health insurers and hospitals.
Developed by the Australian Health Service Alliance (AHSA) and Insight Actuaries, the Voice of the Patient will enable privately insured patients to comment on their healthcare journey. It gathers responses from private patients across the country and from hospital settings to provide valuable insight into the operation and performance of the system.
“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,” said AHSA CEO Andrew Sando. “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 patient data via validated measurement tools:
“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,” said Insight Actuaries CEO Daniel Erasmus. “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.”
Over the last 12 months, 45,000 patients have participated in the Voice of the Patient, making it one of the largest private patient-reported databases in Australia and gaining insight into the Australian health system's performance. The tool has achieved a 45% response rate and covered hundreds of individual hospitals across Australia.
“An increasing number of similar initiatives are coming out every single year across the globe, and it is expected that patient perspectives will form the foundation of future, value-driven, and successful health systems,” Sando said.
AHSA confirmed that Australian private hospital operators have backed the Voice of the Patient, considering it as a valuable tool to help monitor and maintain high quality standards of care.
“We provide aggregate data to private hospitals and day surgeries, helping them to assess themselves against the performance of the system. Over the past three years, they have shown overwhelming support for the tool as a key development resource – helping Australia's private sector maintain that world-class status,” Sando said.
