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It is important to collect patient-reported data to leverage the potential that this type of information can provide when linked with other health care data. This will ultimately improve patient-centred care and the patient experience. — Dr. Jason Werle, Orthopedic surgeon, Alberta

This analysis linked 

• Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) and clinical outcomes to see whether there is a relationship between patients’ hospital experience and positive clinical outcomes
• PREMs and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) to see whether patient experiences and patient-reported outcomes are related (i.e., whether good experiences in hospital result in a positive outcome)
• Costs and PROMs to see whether higher costs are correlated with better patient-reported outcomes

Correlations were explored to determine whether there is a relationship between the 2 measures of interest and the strength of this relationship. The top correlations from the analysis are presented in Table 1. A test of significance was used to determine whether the correlations found were statistically meaningful and not due to chance alone. 

Table 1 Top correlations between clinical outcomes, PREMs, PROMs and costs, 2017–2018 to 2021–2022

Note
* Indicates an significant correlation (P<0.05).

Sources
Canadian Patient Cost Database, Canadian Patient Experiences Reporting System, Discharge Abstract Database, Hospital Morbidity Database, National Ambulatory Care Reporting System and patient-reported outcome measures data, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

PREMs and clinical outcomes

When examining the relationship between patient experience measures and clinical outcomes, Communication With Doctors was correlated with decreased hospital harm.

PREMs and PROMs

Satisfaction with hip and knee surgical results after 1 year had a positive correlation with favourable responses for the patient experience measures (Overall Hospital Experience, Communication With Nurses, Communication With Doctors, and Involvement in Decision-Making and Treatment Options).

Costs and PROMs

There was a correlation between inpatient hospitalization costs and PROMs, including patient-reported change in functional status and change in quality of life after 1 year.

These findings demonstrate the need to continue to collect patient-reported data to fully leverage the potential of linked health care data. Though some correlations were statistically significant, the correlations observed were classified as weak (less than 0.39).Reference1 This suggests that additional factors may influence the relationship between measures. With larger data sets, more advanced analysis can be pursued such as accounting for non-linear relationships and multiple factors to better understand focus areas that can both improve patient outcomes and experiences and lower costs.

• Canadian Joint Replacement Registry (CJRR)
• Patient Experience
• Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs)
• Canadian Patient Cost Database metadata