In search of better patient care data in hospitals

In order to provide the best care possible, hospitals need caregivers, building, medical equipment and drugs.

The hospital needs data

In order to function, the health system relies on men and women with adequate financial and material resources. The science of data, in addition to technologies that are used to diagnose and treat different pathologies can also be helpful to improve conditions for everyday medicine.

E-Satis is a tool that has been used by the Haute Autorite de Sante since 2015. It measures the patient’s satisfaction. This is an online questionnaire sent to patients who are admitted to the hospital. The form asks about the perception of hospital services, reception and care. The majority of questions have a list of pre-defined answers. This is essentially quantitative data.

Patients’ feelings remained insufficiently analyzed

Patients are invited to add a qualitative element by writing a comment. These verbatims have not been valued until now: the establishments can download them but they are a collection of disjointed texts that is difficult to use.

The platform, which was first piloted in the summer of 2024 has been upgraded with an algorithm (New Window) to classify and order these texts. It was developed with the help of users and experts in quality assurance and care safety. Since last September, this platform is available free to all establishments. It is designed to maximize information feedback in order to improve the reception and stay. Documenting patient feedback is also important.

Unifying emergency data for better organization

In mid-November of 2024 the Court des Comptes released a report (New Window) identifying possible improvements in this data area, in emergency departments. These data elements, although numerous, are often recorded separately and in partial systems, which are not linked. The Court also noted that data collected at emergency rooms is “affected” by anomalies or gaps. The statistics are therefore not reliable. This is especially true when measuring emergency room flow.

To better serve the public, magistrates propose a dashboard that shows occupied and vacant positions. This will allow them to measure reception capacity, as well as availability. To do this, it will be necessary to increase budgets and personnel levels. The number crunchers on rue Cambon can’t ignore this.

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