{"id":32957,"date":"2020-08-16T17:19:37","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T22:19:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/?p=32957"},"modified":"2020-08-16T17:30:16","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T22:30:16","slug":"despite-hospital-delays-and-fear-of-covid-19-patients-express-gratitude-to-doctors-and-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2020\/08\/despite-hospital-delays-and-fear-of-covid-19-patients-express-gratitude-to-doctors-and-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite hospital delays and fear of COVID-19, patients express gratitude to doctors and staff"},"content":{"rendered":"
In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, as United States health providers struggled to understand a mysterious and deadly disease, an artificial intelligence platform was able to paint a clear picture of how patients were feeling.<\/p>\n
Patients were grateful for the professionalism of doctors and staff in the midst of the greatest public health crisis in modern history, according to NarrativeDx<\/a>, a graduate company of the 2018 TMCx digital health program.<\/p>\n Between Feb. 1 and April 4, the AI platform gathered more than 7 million patient survey comments from hospitals and health care providers across the country and assessed how patients were perceiving the pandemic, what they were worried about and how their perceptions of care were changing, according to an article published in the NEJM Catalyst <\/em>in April 2020<\/a>. Early comments originated from patients in Washington state, New York and Boston\u2014locations where the pandemic first hit in the U.S.<\/p>\n :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Using patented AI technology to study patient satisfaction reviews, NarrativeDx helps hospitals and providers translate patient feedback and opinions into insights that offer ways to improve care. While other AI algorithms are designed to recognize patterns, images and faces, NarrativeDx\u2019s platform is based on natural language processing that deciphers patient comments, factoring in the nuances of tone and metaphorical expressions.<\/p>\n \u201c[Hospitals] could go look at claims data or outcomes data, and they\u2019d see \u2026 there\u2019s a rise in these cases and a rise in deaths,\u201d NarrativeDx co-founder Kyle Robertson said, \u201cbut our product happens to be the only one that can tell you from the patient perspective what they\u2019re feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the course of the 9-week period, NarrativeDx found that slightly more than half (52 percent) of the patient comments related to the pandemic. Chief complaints were centered on hospital operations\u2014such as long wait times, scarcity of COVID-19 tests, delayed services (like ultrasounds and X-rays)\u2014and poor hygiene and cleanliness of the hospital environment, which heightens the risk of potential exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19.<\/p>\n Feedback about cleanliness indicated that patients were concerned about surfaces not being sanitized between patients in exam rooms, the same pillows being used by multiple patients, the lack of hand sanitizer stations available and crammed waiting rooms.<\/p>\n \u201cCleanliness has been part of these [patient experience survey] questions from the get-go \u2026 but not very many people paid attention to it,\u201d said Senem Guney, Ph.D., the other NarrativeDx co-founder. \u201cAll of a sudden, you see patients talk very specifically about cleanliness, which was not something we encountered before COVID.\u201d<\/p>\n However, even as negative feedback about certain processes rose, positive comments about health care workers increased in the middle of March 2020.<\/p>\n Patients appreciated the compassion, kindness and empathy of their doctors and staff during a time of extraordinary stress and anxiety, according to NarrativeDx. For example, many patients expressed gratitude toward their care teams, writing comments along the lines of \u201cThe office staff and [doctor] look so extremely tired and worn out due to [COVID-19] but they all were kind and explained everything to the fullest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a lot of panic from both sides not knowing what to do, exactly,\u201d Guney said. \u201cThere were a lot of complaints about cleanliness, waiting for tests and treatments and longer wait times for non-COVID patients. But in the midst of all this, [patients] were very appreciative \u2026 of the effort and the care that the providers were putting in given the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n As hospitals implemented new safety measures and visitor policies\u2014such as increased cleaning, screening and social distancing\u2014and patients adjusted to the \u201cnew normal,\u201d negative comments began to taper off, while positive comments continued to increase.<\/p>\n \u201cOn average, people viewed their physicians more favorably during the pandemic because they know what their doctors are facing, they know there are restrictions on PPEs, they know that it\u2019s long work hours amid all of this,\u201d Robertson said. \u201cThat was a really great point for humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n
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