According to the Accountable Care Act, hospitals’ pay and eventually individual providers’ pay will be partly based on patient ratings. In accordance with this Act, hospitals are implementing ways to improve the “patient experience”. Top hospital leaders believe that the top six recommendations to improve the patient experience include: new facilities, private rooms, food on demand, bedside-interactive computers, unrestricted visiting hours, and more quiet time so patients could rest. However, the patient experience can only be judged and defined by the patients themselves. Some hospital across the U.S. have developed approaches to understanding the drivers of patient experience. Patient advisory councils are used at the Cleveland Clinic by organizing a group of patients that serve as a voice within organizations to ensure that the clinic “does not lose track of patients’ needs”. The Cleveland Clinic has also made use of patient satisfaction surveys in order to understand how patients feel about their experience and why they feel this way. Other suggestions include having clinic leaders make monthly rounds throughout the facility, and sharing patients stories to employees. In recent years, leaders of health care organizations have begun to understand that in addition to improving medical outcomes at lower costs, there needs to be a focus on improving the patient experience as well.

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