Patient journey mapping: exploring the clinical and the emotional journey
November 11, 2019 |
By Chris Hodgson, Neil Rees, Sumira Riaz and Karen Petticrew While we can all agree that the value of developing a patient journey map cannot be underestimated when exploring the care pathway for a patient, there appear to be inconsistencies within the same pharmaceutical organisations as to how patient journey mapping is defined.
There can often be a dichotomy in scope, content and delivery; for some, mapping the patient journey is to determine the clinical transactional pathway, while for others, the focus is to define the psychological experience of the emotional journey of patients and caregivers from diagnosis and beyond.
The adoption of one approach over another is entirely dependent on the needs of the stakeholders and the business requirements within the organisation. However, by considering both rational and emotional parameters, creating a patient journey map that fuses the clinical and psychological experience of the patient and relevant influencers can provide the organisation with a basis for a blueprint to enhance the journey with appropriate interventions.
As a starting point, understanding how patients proceed through the healthcare delivery system, using validated real-world data is essential.
The production of a clinical pathway can be achieved by analysing Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data: a records-based system that covers all NHS Trusts in England.
While all data is pseudonymised to ensure patient confidentiality, the data collected follows patients’ clinical touchpoints during their time under the care of a physician based in the NHS.
The data collected in HES includes, but is not limited to:
- Patient details – age, sex, ethnicity and location
- Clinical details – diagnoses,investigations/tests, operative procedures, consultant and specialty
- Administrative details – NHS Trust, GP, admission/discharge date and method and referrer.
Mapping patients along the entirety of a pathway, from initial referral through further diagnostics to first definitive treatment, enables an understanding of the efficiency of care delivery and where opportunities exist for improvement.
There are various aspects of the patient journey elicited from HES data that can shape any subsequent exploration into the psychological experience, such as:
- The approximate time between the first and last step? – from first appointment to diagnosis to first treatment
- Where are the longest delays?
- The approximate time between each step?
- How many steps are there?
Identifying aspects such as time to diagnosis and time to initiation of treatment can shape how you approach developing a picture of the psychological journey of the patient.
The clinical pathway can highlight the HCP types involved in the journey, gathering their perception along with patients, carers and PAGs to help to identify and define the variety of emotions experienced at each touchpoint, thereby providing the psychological dimension.
A starting point to build the emotional perspective of the journey is to collate available information. Immersing yourself in existing information, such as previous market research or exploring the disease area on social media platforms supports an initial data immersion exercise that can feed into a bespoke qualitative research approach.
Using tailored methodologies and projective techniques to elicit deep-rooted feelings throughout the journey will help us understand the lived experience of the patient and specifically the psychological impact of clinical milestones previously identified.
Furthermore, it can be extended to include the emotional response of caregivers at each key milestone, thereby permitting a further layer of insight beyond that of the patient and the healthcare professional.
In addition to mapping clinical patient pathways, the use of HES data can support the development of innovative solutions and service improvement, track outcomes and provide real- world evidence.
These data sets are used for the purposes of providing supporting information for business cases, epidemiological research, burden of disease analysis, health economic research, predictive analytical modelling, NICE submissions and quality & outcome analysis.
The aim is to improve patient care and support enhanced access to services and innovative solutions, which is additionally supported through an understanding of the patient’s emotional well-being.
The data immersion and bespoke market research used to better understand the psychological journey can aid identification of unmet needs, leverage key information points and assist in facilitating tactical solutions around services to improve patient care and support healthcare professional education.
Overlaying the clinical journey with the emotional journey will provide brand teams with a truly holistic view of the patient journey.
Understanding the unmet needs, drivers and barriers for change along the journey will enable brand teams to develop interventions, for patients, healthcare professionals or other relevant stakeholders. Such support can improve the journey for the patient, leading to improved patient outcomes.
Chris Hodgson is Operations Director, Neil Rees is Head of Research, Sumira Riaz is Head of Health Psychology and Karen Petticrew is Research Director, all at OPEN Health.
This content was provided by OPEN Health
Company Details
Latest Content from OPEN Health
Jeff Anderson joins OPEN Health as European Lead for OPEN VIE and Pharmerit
OPEN Health, the family of expert practices working in partnership to drive positive change in healthcare communications and market access, has appointed Jeff Anderson as European Lead for the combined...
OPEN Health Webinar – Succeeding with Star Wars Medicine
Summary of their recently published white paper on gene therapy followed by a Q&A session on 12th June 2020. Book now!
Yurie Oates, Account Director, OPEN Health gives us some Top tips from 5 years of account management on #MedCommsDay
WHAT IS ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT?Account/project managers support the day-to-day running of their account: they are the glue in a team who make sure projects are completed on brief, on time and...
A day in the life of an Associate Publications Director
Eleanor Raynsford, Associate Publications Director, OPEN Health gives us an insight into a day in the life of her role.
Vicky Bramham, Managing Director at OPEN Health PR shares tips on media relations during COVID-19
Vicky speaks with freelance health journalist Jacqui Thornton who gives her expert view on how best to approach media relations during this unprecedented time.
OPEN Health attend EB World Congress—building on momentum and strength in numbers for epidermolysis bullosa
Ben Speller shares his thoughts on the value of disease specific congresses
OPEN Health use PR to support clinical trial recruitment
International Clinical Trials Day finds clinical research in the spotlight like never before, with any news coming from the many studies into potential vaccines and treatments for SARS-CoV-2
OPEN Health | European Congress on Rare Diseases (ECRD) 2020 in 60 seconds
Gavin Jones, Director or Rare Disease, attends the congress to better understand the viewpoints of patient groups, health systems and payers
OPEN Health attend day 2 of the ECRD2020 congress
Gavin Jones is looking forward to sessions on innovation in advanced therapies and working towards equitable access.
OPEN Health continued support for My Name’5 Doddie
Charity fundraising for Motor Neuron Disease