Chief Executive Officers’ Perceptions of Collective Organizational Engagement and Patient Experience in Acute Care Hospitals

The concept of employee engagement has garnered considerable attention in acute care hospitals because of the many positive benefits that research has found when clinicians are individually engaged. However, limited, if any, research has examined the effects of engaging all hospital employees (including housekeeping, cafeteria, and admissions staff) in a collective manner and how this may impact patient experience, an important measure of hospital performance. Therefore, this quantitative online survey-based study examines the association between 60 chief executive officers' (CEOs') perceptions of the collective organizational engagement (COE) of all hospital employees and patient experience. A summary measure of the US Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey scores was used to assess patient experience at each of the 60 hospitals represented in the study. A multiple linear regression model was tested using structural equation modeling. The findings of the research suggest that CEOs' perceptions of COE explain a significant amount of variability in patient experience at acute care hospitals. Practical implications for CEOs and other hospital leaders are provided that discuss how COE can be used as an organizational capability to influence organizational performance.