Why Care Opinion?

Why Care Opinion?

“Care Opinion is like a mobile phone, some people only use 5% of what it can do.”

These were the words from Care Opinion Australia founder and former CEO, Associate Professor Michael Greco, when we sat down for the first of our Subscriber Chats series to discuss a foundational question: Why Care Opinion?

Michael’s background in patient experience began in a very quantitative fashion, with his PhD centred around the measurement of patient experience and surveys. But when he was introduced to what was then Patient Opinion in the UK, he saw something different: a way to hold qualitative feedback that could turn into real listening and responding.

During the session, Michael reflected on some of the things that distinguish Care Opinion from other forms of patient feedback.

For Michael, one of the key pillars to Care Opinion is in its ability to amplify the consumer voice right across an organisation.

With traditional surveys, the person completing the survey does not necessarily see who has listened to their feedback. Care Opinion makes that listening visible. Storytellers can see who has read their story, whether the service has responded and, if a change is required, what is being done about it.

Michael recalled one storyteller who was surprised and impressed that the Chief Executive of a major health service had read her story. She could also see that senior clinical staff, other staff and consumer groups had read it.

Stories can be spread far and wide throughout an organisation. These stories can be read by clinical staff, executive directors, student nurses and every one else in the health service, rather than being seen only by a specific department or discussed at handovers. This helps create a culture of feedback across the organisation, one of both praise and learning.

As Michael explained, amplifying the consumer voice is about “who is seeing their story” and, if change is required, “what is being done about that.”

Accelerating staff learning

A second key aspect is Care Opinion's ability to accelerating staff learning.

Michael spoke about seeing first-hand the emotional impact stories can have on healthcare staff, including a Chief Executive who was moved by the story of a daughter whose father had died at his hospital.

As an end to the feedback experience, the storyteller could see that the organisation was genuinely listening to her and eventually became involved in a patient forum with the organisation.

For Michael, stories provide something different from scores and percentages. They provide “context and detail”, they have an “emotional impact” and they allow staff to see the feedback loop being closed and “what action results from that.”

When do statistics ever ever move us to tears? 

Patient safety

There is also the role of patient stories in patient safety.

Using the Mid Staffordshire inquiry in the UK as an example, Michael spoke about an organisation that had its dashboards, targets and compliance processes, but where “patients and families were experiencing something completely different.”

The Francis Inquiry questioned the effectiveness of feedback mechanisms that lacked immediacy and transparency, and Michael pointed to research showing how Care Opinion can provide an early indication that something within an organisation may not be quite right.

A reduction in formal complaints

When people think about patient feedback, some immediately think of formal complaints. But on Care Opinion Australia, 57% of stories shared on the platform are purely positive.

As Michael put it, “We need to share stories with our healthcare staff about what they're doing right as perceived by the storytellers.”

He also highlighted a recent anecdote from a UK university trust which found that engaging with Care Opinion helped prevent the escalation of formal complaints.

Why? As Michael said, “It makes sense, doesn't it?” If someone tells their story, they can see that it has been read and received a response, the tone can soften and there can be a turnaround in attitude. The challenge for services is to make sure that the response is not standardised, but human.

Ultimately, Michael described Care Opinion as helping move feedback away from a transactional approach and towards something relational, and potentially transformational.

It is about listening to patients in a way that they feel heard, while helping staff learn from what patients and families are telling them.

Watch the full Subscriber Chat below to hear Michael explore ''Why Care Opinion?' and keep an eye out for Session 2 of our Subscriber Chats series, coming soon.