Association of patient-reported experiences with health resource utilization and cost among US adult population, medical expenditure panel survey (MEPS), 2010-13

Objectives: To determine whether optimal patient experiences with healthcare is associated with enhanced and efficient use of healthcare resources and cost. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting and participants: The study population consisted of pooled participants from the 2010-13 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey cohort of adults ≥18 years with a regular healthcare provider and ≥1 visit to a healthcare provider within the survey year. Using a self-administered questionnaire, individual responses to questions related to healthcare experience were used to develop a weighted average for each of these patient-centered care matrices (ease of access to healthcare, patient-provider communication, shared decision-making and overall patient satisfaction). Intervention: None. Outcome measures: The outcomes of interest included (1) emergency room (ER) visits and hospital stay, (2) annual healthcare costs incurred by the respondents. Results: Overall the study population consisted of 47 969 individuals ≥18 years representing nearly 130 million US non-institutionalized adults. Compared with individuals with a poor report on healthcare experience, participants with positive reports were less likely to utilize the ER and had a lower annual healthcare expenditure. This relationship between patient experience and healthcare expenditure was not demonstrated with shared decision-making and overall patient satisfaction. Conclusion: Our study findings suggest that there is an association between patient experience with healthcare, health resource utilization and healthcare expenditure. Further studies are needed to assess if interventions focused to enhance patient experiences can improve healthcare efficiency.