Improving patient experience in the Pre-Anesthesia Clinic
This qualitative study explores patient and family experiences at Sunnybrook’s Pre-Anesthesia Clinic to inform patient-centered improvements in surgical preparation.
Background
The pre-anesthesia clinic (PAC) aims to optimize patients for their surgery. This is important because it provides coordination of care between various healthcare providers and patients. Additionally, this process aims to reduce the risks of surgery. This project is necessary because optimized preoperative care is linked to improved post-operative outcomes, reduced recovery times and postoperative complications and pain, and lessened anxiety5,6. This project aims to discover and describe the patient and family experience during their PAC visit. We took a patient-centered approach, prioritizing the patient perspective, to ensure that recommendations for improvement are aligned with patient values and needs. We conducted a Quality Improvement study involving 50 qualitative interviews with patients in the PAC. Based on our initial Needs Assessment, our findings indicate that healthcare providers’ beliefs of opportunities for improvement are not always echoed by patients (Appendix I). Patients do not mind waiting for longer periods of time during their visit if they understand the purpose of their appointment and are alerted of delays. Early access to multiple modalities of information is pivotal to patient satisfaction and positive experiences. Healthcare providers play an integral role in building patients’ confidence and capacity for self-advocacy. In order to provide better patient and family experiences, it is essential to break down existing silos and provide seamless care delivery. These findings convey what patients need and expect from our healthcare system. Understanding the problem directly from patients will help healthcare organizations create change ideas that are patient-centred and align with patients’ needs. The limitations of this study were that this study only pertained to the Sunnybrook PAC and may not be reflective of other PACs, and there was no member-checking of themes. For future investigations, we plan to conduct focus groups (with patients, families and staff) to co-create and implement change ideas using these results.
Project team
- Raja Ravi
- Agnes Ryzynski
- Andrew Wan
TRP supervisors
Project advisory committee
- Dr. Ed Etchells (QI expert)
- Dr. Lesley Gotlib-Conn (Qualitative research expert)
- Ms. Guna Budrevics (patient engagement)
- Lindsay Senese (patient partner and advocate)
See our community directory for more on committee members.