Patient Experience: The Hospitalist’s Pivotal Role in Patient-Centered Care

"The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." —Voltaire

Physicians are not always able to offer immediate answers or instant cures; medicine is often a process of watchful, deliberate care. Yet what clinicians can provide from the very first encounter is something equally powerful: the assurance that a patient is being heard, respected, and seen as a whole person. Indeed, how patients perceive their care—whether they feel informed, involved, and treated with dignity—shapes patient experience as profoundly as the clinical interventions themselves. Patient experience, defined as “everything [clinicians and staff] say and do that affects patients’ thoughts, feelings, and well-being,” is meaningfully distinct from the narrower concept of patient satisfaction (1). As outlined in Annals of Internal Medicine, satisfaction metrics risk reducing care quality to superficial amenities, whereas patient experience is intrinsically linked to patient safety, clinical effectiveness, and human-centered care (1–3). 

Hospitalists serve as the primary inpatient physician team across both academic medical centers and community hospitals, uniquely positioned to shape the patient experience at scale. Their continuous presence throughout a patient’s admission—from arrival to discharge—places them at the center of every clinical decision and care interaction. However, applying HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) data to evaluate individual hospitalist performance carries important caveats. The survey suffers from a national response rate of approximately 28%, is delivered up to 6 weeks after discharge, and faces significant variability due to age-related response gaps and low sample sizes at the individual clinician level (1). These methodological limitations mean HCAHPS results cannot reliably reflect any single hospitalist’s contributions to patient experience and should not be used for individual performance reviews. 

Among the most consequential factors in shaping the patient’s inpatient experience is the quality of communication between physicians and nurses. Studies demonstrate that effective physician–nurse communication directly influences patients’ sense of safety, the coherence of their care, and their overall satisfaction (2, 3). As the primary physician team, hospitalists are key stakeholders in fostering this communication. By maintaining consistent dialogue with nursing staff—soliciting their observations, ensuring aligned messaging to patients, and participating in structured interdisciplinary rounds—hospitalists bridge the gaps that commonly arise in complex inpatient environments (2). This collaborative approach does not merely satisfy a communication requirement; it is the operational backbone of holistic, whole-person care. 

Empathy in health care is the act of harmonizing curing and caring, recognizing that technical excellence and genuine human connection are not competing values but complementary ones (3–5). Research has demonstrated that spiritual community participation is associated with greater longevity, reduced depression, and improved quality of life (4). When a patient expresses spiritual needs or a desire for pastoral support, the hospitalist can facilitate connection with a hospital chaplain, pastoral care specialist, or community clergy according to the patient’s own faith and preference. 

Patient experience, ultimately, is a commitment to seeing every person as a whole human being—one who deserves clear communication, genuine compassion, and evidence-based care that honors both their medical and human needs. This is not merely about survey scores or reimbursement incentives—it is about our calling in medicine: to heal, to comfort, and to accompany patients through the most vulnerable moments of their lives. 

References

1. Kneeland PP, Burden M. Web exclusives. Annals for Hospitalists inpatient notes - patient experience as a health care value domain in hospitals. Ann Intern Med. 2018;168:HO2-HO3. [PMID: 29554686] doi:10.7326/M18-0231
2. Hoque F. Effective physician-nurse communication: foundation of patient-centered care. Am J Med Qual. 2026;41:164-166. [PMID: 41961099] doi:10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000303
3. Hoque F, Savel RH, Benson P. Advancing patient experience and doctor communication excellence through targeted multidisciplinary intervention: a quality improvement study. Am J Med Qual. 2026;41:191-198. [PMID: 42130349] doi:10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000308
4. Balboni TA, VanderWeele TJ, Doan-Soares SD, et al. Spirituality in serious illness and health. JAMA. 2022;328:184-197. [PMID: 35819420] doi:10.1001/jama.2022.11086
5. Hoque F. Empathy in healthcare: harmonizing curing and caring in healthcare. J Hosp Med. 2025;20:517-520. [PMID: 39436208] doi:10.1002/jhm.13540

Farzana Hoque, MD

Dr. Farzana Hoque is an academic hospitalist and an associate professor of medicine at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. She serves as the codirector of the Internal Medicine Acting Internship and the inaugural medical director of Bordley Tower at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital. Dr. Hoque is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom and the President of the Society of Hospital Medicine St. Louis Chapter.