SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Listening Better Through Bedside Rounding: A Quality Improvement Initiative

Pdf Summary

This quality improvement project at Rhode Island Hospital aimed to improve the “listening” domain of HCAHPS, a national patient experience survey tied to hospital reputation and reimbursement. The focus was on physician communication, including whether doctors treated patients with courtesy and respect, listened carefully, and explained information clearly. Because patient communication can affect adherence, readmissions, and mortality, the team selected standardized bedside rounding as the intervention.<br /><br />The project was implemented on the teaching internal medicine service. Before starting, patients were surveyed about their hospital experience. Residents were introduced to the project at noon conference, and faculty discussed feasibility during a staff meeting. Standardized bedside rounding was then introduced, followed by repeat patient surveys to assess change and gather feedback.<br /><br />Initial data came from 27 patients interviewed before the intervention; follow-up data came from 36 patients after implementation. Before bedside rounding, 60% of patients felt the daily plan was explained, 100% correctly identified the reason for hospitalization, 85% felt their concerns were addressed, and about 78% were satisfied with the amount of time the team spent with them. After the intervention, 100% felt the daily plan was explained, 100% correctly identified the reason for hospitalization, 100% felt concerns were addressed, and about 78% remained satisfied with the amount of time spent.<br /><br />Although results suggested improvement in some communication measures, a two-sample t test for explanation of the plan found no statistically significant difference (p = 0.35). The authors note that this may reflect small sample size, short follow-up, and variable adherence to the rounding process. They conclude that bedside rounding may improve patient-centered communication, but longer-term and more consistent implementation is needed to determine whether it meaningfully improves HCAHPS scores.

Asset Subtitle

Rasan K. Cherala

Meta Tag

Author List Belal Noureddine, Firrah Saeed, Ibrahim Yusuf, Lauren Young, Mark Schleinitz, Rasan K. Cherala

Category Innovations

Concept HCAHPS

Concept Listening

Concept Standardized Bedside Rounding

Concept Patient Experience

Concept Explainability

Distinguished Non-Finalist

Presenter Organization Brown University

Presenting Author Rasan K. Cherala

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

HCAHPS

patient communication

bedside rounding

physician communication

patient experience

quality improvement

internal medicine

courtesy and respect

standardized rounding

hospital reputation

HCAHPS

Listening

Standardized Bedside Rounding

Patient Experience

Explainability