Common Pitfalls with Survey Feedback and EHR Data

Integrating Electronic Health Records (EHR) with patient feedback data can greatly enhance the quality of healthcare insights, allowing providers to combine clinical outcomes with patient experiences. However, navigating the complexities of EHR data integration comes with several potential pitfalls that healthcare organizations need to be aware of. 

In this article, we will show you how to predict and prevent some of the most common challenges associated with integrating EHR data into feedback systems.

The key pitfalls with EHR data

From data fragmentation to privacy concerns, here are some of the most common pitfalls healthcare organizations face when working with EHR data and feedback integration.

Fragmented data systems

Many organizations use multiple systems or platforms for managing clinical data, patient feedback, and operational records, which can lead to data silos. These silos prevent healthcare providers from gaining a complete view of the patient experience, as data from EHR systems may not seamlessly integrate with feedback tools.

Potential solution: Implement a unified platform that consolidates EHR data and patient feedback. Ensuring data is consistently structured and accessible across systems will enable more effective cross-data analysis.

Misalignment between clinical data and patient perception

One of the biggest challenges in linking EHR data with feedback analysis is the potential misalignment between clinical outcomes and patient perceptions. For example, a medical procedure may be clinically successful according to the EHR, but the patient may feel unsatisfied due to a lack of communication or comfort during the process.

Potential solution: Integrate qualitative feedback from patient surveys to complement EHR data. Use both data sets to build a complete view of the patient experience, considering both medical outcomes and personal experiences. This dual approach helps to uncover areas where clinical care might be sound, but patient satisfaction is lacking.

Difficulty in measuring patient outcomes vs. experiences

EHR data focuses on objective clinical outcomes such as treatment success rates, readmission rates, or prescription adherence. 

In contrast, patient feedback provides subjective experiences, including emotional responses or perceived quality of care. Balancing these two types of data in a way that leads to actionable insights can be challenging.

Potential solution: Develop a framework that links patient outcomes with feedback metrics. For example, track how improvements in clinical outcomes (from EHR data) correlate with higher patient satisfaction scores. This helps healthcare providers understand the broader impact of their services on both physical health and emotional well-being. If you lack data for such correlations, consider implementing PROMs and PREMs.

Overcomplication with analytics tools

Sophisticated analytics tools used to integrate and analyze EHR and feedback data may become overly complex, requiring specialized knowledge that healthcare teams don’t have. This can lead to underuse of the tools and missed opportunities for insights.

Potential solution: Choose user-friendly data integration platforms that offer clear reporting and visualization capabilities. Simpler tools allow healthcare teams to engage with the data more easily, and translate findings into actionable improvements.

Privacy and compliance issues

Healthcare data, particularly EHR data, is highly sensitive and subject to stringent regulations that differ across countries and regions. When using EHR data for patient feedback, healthcare providers must ensure they comply with privacy standards to avoid exposing patient-identifiable information.

Potential solution: Work closely with legal and compliance teams to create clear guidelines for integrating and analyzing EHR data. Ensure that all feedback and EHR data handling meets local privacy laws and that data anonymization techniques are used where necessary. Double-check that the tools you use to collect and analyze data follow GDPR and similar requirements.

The takeaway

Integrating EHR data with patient feedback has the potential to offer a holistic view of patient care, blending clinical outcomes with personal experiences. However, the common pitfalls we looked at can complicate this process. Addressing these issues enables proactive healthcare providers to seamlessly harness the power of both EHR and feedback data to drive improvements in patient care and outcomes.