CEO, Honeycomb Management Services, LLC

Dissertation Title

An Analysis of the Association Between an Established Chief Experience Officer Position and Hospital Patient Experience Scores Within Three States

Dissertation Abstract

Few industries operate with as much capacity to personally satisfy or disappoint, as does the U.S healthcare industry. Healthcare outcomes sought by society include wellness, safety, healing, and, ultimately, experiences. While healthcare involves complex relationships between patients, families, providers, payers, and regulators, the use of management theory can be insightful in studying and explaining the motivations and strategic decisions of healthcare managers.

The healthcare industry is currently reacting to multiple stakeholders demanding improvements to the patient experience. New ways to measure patient experiences in healthcare are emerging. Some healthcare organizations are implementing new management structures, i.e., the role of Chief Experience Officer (CXO). This dissertation offers a study into potential solutions to the problem of improving patient experience through the lens of Resource Dependence Theory (RDT). This study will further review and explore the demand for increased value and improved experience, the adoption of associated goals by interest groups and facilities, factors known to influence patient experience, and the use of patient centered care models as tools for experiential improvement. This study statistically reviewed descriptors associated with hospitals that have and have not created and filled the role of CXO and, more importantly, measured the association between the CXO role and results of patients’ perceptions of their experience of care as measured by publicly reported Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) results. This study was conducted utilizing primary research regarding hospitals and health systems in three states, California, Florida, and New York.

The results of the study yielded insight into the types of hospitals and market factors that have filled the CXO role. Hospitals with a formal CXO role are larger, more likely not for profit, belong to a system, are teaching facilities, and operate in areas of these states with higher per capita income. In addition, hospitals that have a formal CXO role are also more likely to have higher HCAHPS scores as determined by the patient recommendation question as well as the hospital overall rating question included in the HCAHPS survey.