Are LHINs influencing the patient experience in Ontario?

Patient engagement and patient experience have become an important focal point for health policy development in Ontario. Many healthcare delivery and planning organizations are exploring how to use patient experience information and data to improve the quality of their services and processes. Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) are also beginning to include patient experience as a measure of local health system improvement. This article reviews the role of LHINs in developing patient experience information over their 10 year history and highlights current initiatives.

The Patient Experience in Ontario 2020: What Is Possible?

Words are important. They signal an intention behind a thought. So when Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care publishes an action plan (Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 2012) that declares itself to be "obsessively patient-centred," curiosity ensues and terms abound. Patient-centred care, patient engagement and patient experience - all seem to be in the mix in Ontario. This paper will propose a set of definitions for these commonly used terms, examine the progress being made in Ontario towards a more patient-centred healthcare system and suggest where we might aim to be by 2020.

Patient Engagement: We Need to Get on With It.

We are extremely grateful to each of the commentators for their thoughtful responses to "The Patient Experience in Ontario 2020: What is Possible?" It was helpful to hear the perspective and insights of authors from different jurisdictions and to benefit from their knowledge and experience. There are a number of themes that emerged from the commentaries that we would like to highlight.