Organizational and Service Management Interventions for Improving the Patient Experience With Care: Systematic Review of the Effectiveness

Background Healthcare managers and administrators increasingly need to develop systems, structures and operations capable of improving the patient experience performance of their organisations or service delivery units. Aim To systematically review the effectiveness of organizational and service management interventions on standardized patient experience measure scores. Methods Six scientific databases, speciality journals and snowballing were used to identify English‐language, peer‐reviewed, contemporary studies (2015–2023) that examined the impact of service management or organizational interventions on the patient experience as a primary outcome. The studies needed to include inferential statistics on standardized, patient‐reported experience measures. Two independent reviewers performed the eligibility decisions and risk‐of‐bias appraisals. Results Nine papers were finally included. Three papers were on discrete, service‐level interventions, including two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and one pre‐post study; one RCT achieved significant improvements by delaying the timing of bedside rounding versus maintaining the early morning schedule. One non‐randomized controlled study and two pre‐post studies addressed organisation‐wide approaches. Among those, one pre‐post study achieved significant improvements by having site managers meet regularly with an organizational oversight committee to compare the units' patient‐experience performance and setting improvement expectations. Finally, three observational, multi‐site comparative studies were included. These addressed self‐reported improvement approaches, implementation of a nursing excellence certification programme, and implementation of Patient Experience Offices. The latter was significantly associated with improved patient experience performance. Conclusion Selected discrete service‐level interventions and organizational approaches can lead to better patient experience outcomes, even though the evidence from the pre‐post and observational studies should be interpreted with caution.