Patient- and person-reports on healthcare: preferences, outcomes, experiences, and satisfaction – an essay

With the shift towards patient-centered healthcare, patient- and person-reports of health-related factors, including outcomes, are seen as important determinants for evaluating and improving healthcare. However, a comprehensive, systematic categorization of patient- and person-reports is currently lacking in the literature. This study aims at developing a new classification system with well-defined constructs for patients’ and persons’ self-reports on health and healthcare. A literature research and evaluation by the Reported Health Outcomes (RHO) Group were used to develop this classification system. The new classification system includes patient- and person-reported preferences, outcomes, experiences, and satisfaction related to healthcare and health outcomes. Moreover, the most constitutive methods to measure these four categories – preferences, outcomes, experiences, and satisfaction – have been described in this article. Even though the value of patients’ and persons’ perspectives on healthcare is increasingly being recognized, its measurement and implementation presents a lasting challenge to researchers, clinicians, patients, and the general population.