{rfName}
In

Indexed in

License and Use

Icono OpenAccess

Citations

22

Altmetrics

Analysis of institutional authors

Rodríguez-Fuertes ACorresponding AuthorReinares-Lara PAuthor

Share

November 7, 2022
Publications
>
Article
Sí

Incorporation of the emotional indicators of the patient journey into healthcare organization management

Publicated to: HEALTH EXPECTATIONS. 26 (1): 297-306 - 2023-02-01 26(1), DOI: 10.1111/hex.13656

Authors:

Rodríguez-Fuertes, A; Reinares-Lara, P; Garcia-Henche, B
[+]

Affiliations

Univ Alcala, Dept Econ & Business Management, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Dept Business Econ, Paseo Artilleros S-N, Madrid 28032, Spain - Author

Abstract

Background In recent years, attempts have been made to incorporate patients' experiences into healthcare processes, to complement clinical indicators, with what are known as patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported experience measures (PREMs). While the research into PROMs is more developed, the application of PREMs faces some difficulties. The incorporation of emotional indicators into assessments of the experience is an area that remains to be explored. Objectives This study proposes a new technique to analyse the emotions experienced by patients during the care process, examines how these emotions influence their satisfaction and propose that if healthcare services focus more on patients' emotions, they can improve the effectiveness of the sector. Methods The first, qualitative stage, gathered data from patients to design a patient journey (PJ). The PJ was then reproduced as a video. In a subsequent, quantitative stage, the video was shown to experimental participants, and their emotions were measured through facial expression analysis and a questionnaire. Results A new technique to gather emotional data showed that the emotions patients experience do not affect their satisfaction with their clinical care or the physical aspects of the process. However, their emotions did affect their satisfaction with people and organizations. Conclusions The importance of the emotional component of patients' experiences was underlined. Therefore, healthcare organizations should take account of this dimension, as well as the cognitive, to increase patient satisfaction and improve their care processes. Understanding the impact of the emotions identified at the subconscious level can help improve the patient experience. A new methodology was applied that may help health professionals to collect emotional data about patients' experiences and to develop PREMs. Patient/Public Contribution Patients were involved in all stages of this research. In the exploratory phase, some helped define the touchpoints of the PJ. The data from the subsequent experimental phase were collected from another group, and the emotions they experienced were identified through the analysis of their facial expressions. Based on the results of this study, a working group including patients has been established to work on improvements in the PJ.
[+]

Keywords

facial expressions analysisimprovepatient experiencepatient journeypremsqualitysatisfactionAdultArticleControlled studyEmotionEmotionsExperienceFacial expressionFacial expressions analysisHealth care organizationHealth serviceHumanHumansPatientPatient experiencePatient journeyPatient satisfactionPatientsPremsQuantitative analysisQuestionnaireSurveys and questionnairesVideorecording

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal HEALTH EXPECTATIONS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 2.27. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 13, 2025)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.82 (source consulted: FECYT Mar 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2026-04-05, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 8
  • Scopus: 8
  • Europe PMC: 3
[+]

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-05:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 32.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 32 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 2.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 2 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
[+]

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Rodríguez Fuertes, Alfredo) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Rodríguez Fuertes, Alfredo.

[+]