Epic, Press Ganey Partnership Prioritize Patient Experience Data Integration

Epic Systems has formed a partnership with Press Ganey, a patient satisfaction consulting company, to support a patient experience data integration into its more than 300 million patient records.

The partnership will integrate Press Ganey data and insights into the Epic MyChart patient portal and Cheers CRM (customer relationship management) system. The organizations will work on further integration into other applications in the future, the press release stated. This integration, available later this year, will give providers personalized experiences and a holistic understanding of all patients within the EHR.

The Human Experience (HX) Platform by Press Ganey enables healthcare organizations to collect, analyze, visualize, and act on patient and clinician experience feedback. The solution assists in improving the overall quality of care and creating a more favorable environment for patients and staff.

"As we continue our work to build a national health IT infrastructure that connects patients, providers, payers, and more, experience management plays an important role," Alan Hutchison, vice president at Epic, said in a press release. "Press Ganey is a leader and will help deliver important insights directly in the workflows that Epic organizations use every day to create more personalized experiences for their patients."

The partnerships aim to support real-time patient feedback insight, allowing providers to respond quickly and efficiently to concerns. The integration will allow Epic to leverage measurement and enhancement capabilities for patient experience, thus enabling healthcare providers with access to necessary insights, Press Ganey stated.

"Press Ganey and Epic are aligned in our vision of making care experiences as positive and seamless as possible for both patients and providers," said Darren Dworkin, president and chief operating officer of Press Ganey. "By integrating our patient experience measurement and improvement capabilities with Epic, we can empower healthcare providers with the insights they need to drive meaningful change and improve the human experience of care."

The recent partnership is reflective of the evolving use of patient portals, which are no longer just a means for patient data access, but also a tool for cultivating better patient-provider relationships.

As patient facing technologies continue to become more widespread, patient portals and personal health records are increasingly being recognized as crucial connectors between patients and healthcare providers.

According to research conducted by the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB), patient portals can contribute to an overall better patient experience.

The study revealed that patient-facing health IT, referred to as P-Tech by the researchers, can drive improvements in the patient experience, with a particular focus on aspects of the EHR that are patient-facing, such as patient data access and secure messaging.

The findings indicate that patient portals and other P-Tech tools can aid in patient self-management, highlighting patients' perception of technology as a means of strengthening their engagement with healthcare.