Vizient and Qualtrics partner to use experience metrics and data analytics to enhance patient outcomes and boost operational efficiency in healthcare.
Vizient, Inc., the nation’s largest healthcare performance improvement company, and Qualtrics, the leader and creator of the experience management category, announced an innovative strategic partnership to employ experience metrics to transform how healthcare organizations measure and improve performance. The partnership will help organizations better understand the relationships between quality, safety, and patient experiences.
This collaboration will move beyond traditional siloed measurement, combining key metrics and benchmarks Vizient and Qualtrics measure to drive meaningful improvements in patient outcomes and operational efficiency.
The University of Utah Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Stanford Health Care—leaders in clinical care and patient experience—participated in a pilot analysis for this groundbreaking initiative. The results of an initial analysis, presented this week at the Vizient Connections Summit, linked patient experience metrics such as clearer medical provider communication to important clinical outcomes, like emergency room visits, complications, and readmissions.
“Quality and patient experience are interrelated, but data is difficult to analyze at the patient level. By bringing quality, safety, and experience data together, we believe we can unlock the most impactful drivers of healthcare performance across multiple domains and the relationships between them,” said David Levine, MD, FACEP, Chief Medical Officer for Vizient. “This level of depth in insights has not been achieved in healthcare to date given siloed datasets and limited analytics.”
“The initial analysis confirms so much of what we all believe: that the perception of experience is significantly related to clinical outcomes,” said Dr. Adrienne Boissy, Chief Medical Officer, Qualtrics. “But the thoughtful rigor of this work and the near-term potential to focus improvement efforts of hardworking teams, prioritize interventions, and demonstrate value in dollars and operational gains is even more compelling.”
Also Read: GrowthLoop CEO Chris O’Neill on AI, Culture, and the Future of Marketing
A New Era of Healthcare Performance Measurement
Historically, healthcare organizations have relied on siloed, retrospective data to measure performance and patient satisfaction. This new partnership between Vizient and Qualtrics will introduce a dynamic, forward-looking approach, allowing healthcare organizations to proactively manage performance, address clinical challenges before they manifest in performance data, and drive continuous improvement with dynamic, actionable metrics that evolve with changing patient expectations and clinical environments.
Ideal outcomes of the collaboration include:
- Anticipate Patient Outcomes: Harness patient feedback to predict clinical and operational outcomes, such as readmission rates, length of stay, and adverse clinical outcomes.
- Close the Gap Between Experience and Performance: Identify correlations between patient and clinical outcomes, providing healthcare leaders with the insights needed to address care gaps before they impact performance.
- Develop Modern Experience Measurement: Define key elements of modern patient experience measurement that reflect real-time performance patient-reported outcomes and align to patient-centered principles.
Foundational Analyses with Leading Health Systems
An initial analysis of clinical and patient experience data from mutual clients, University of Utah Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, and Stanford Health Care demonstrates the power of patient experience to drive better healthcare outcomes.
Key findings included:
- Patients’ positive perceptions of communication with their caregivers were significantly associated with reductions in length of stay, 30-day readmissions, and emergency room visits.
- Among inpatients with limited healthcare access, those who did not feel that their preferences were considered in their discharge plan were more likely to visit the emergency department within 30 days.
- Better provider explanations could help mitigate the impact of adverse clinical events. Patients who rated provider explanations negatively exhibited significantly worse overall patient satisfaction when complications occurred, an effect that reversed when patients rated provider explanations positively.
Participating hospital leaders praised the collaboration and the insights delivered in the pilot.
“The combined analytics power of Qualtrics and Vizient allows us to break down data silos and gain actionable insights that directly enhance patient care,” said Dan Lundergan, CEO of University of Utah Health Hospitals and Clinics. “By understanding the connections between quality measures and patient experiences, we are better equipped to deliver high-value, patient-centered healthcare.”
“This collaboration is a transformative step forward for health care. The ability to integrate and analyze diverse data sets in meaningful ways will power even more focused improvement efforts, ultimately fulfilling our commitment to creating more value for patients and populations,” said Memorial Hermann Health System COO Erin Asprec.
“We’re excited to participate in this innovative collaboration with Qualtrics and Vizient,” said David Entwistle, President and CEO of Stanford Health Care. “By leveraging comprehensive data analysis, we can redefine patient experience and operational excellence, ensuring that every decision we make is closely aligned with our patients’ needs and preferences.”
Also Read: Why Your Data Strategy Matters Now More Than Ever
Next Steps and Industry-Wide Application
After completing this initial phase with the University of Utah Health, Memorial Hermann, and Stanford Health Care, opportunities for other health systems to participate are expected to be rolled out. The partnership will empower healthcare systems to take an innovative, data-driven approach to improving patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes, positioning them for long-term success in an increasingly value-based care environment.
