Patient experience journey mapping: established public health methodology or strategic decision-making element in a patient-driven healthcare?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32782/2077-6594/2025.4/02Keywords:
patient experience map, patient journey, patient journey map, patient pathway, experience mapAbstract
Purpose. This study aims to outline the evolution of patient experience research and PED generation, to analyze the existing methodological approaches and best practices to map patient experience journey and to substantiate the PEJM conceptual model. Materials and methods. The research combined literature review, expert opinions, and conceptual modeling done from January 2022 to October 2025. A bibliosemantic search covering 20 years (2005–2025) identified 82 eligible sources, including published and grey literature. Expert consultations involved 58 subject matter experts from patient communities, healthcare professionals, and others, conducted in digital and face-to-face formats. Feedback focused on generic patient journeys or pathways, PED sources and generation methods, evidence quality, validation, communication, design and visual presentation of PEJMs. The Patient Focused Medicines Development (PFMD) Working Group’s PED Navigator tool also informed the PEJM conceptual model development. Results. The research highlighted significant variability and inconsistent stakeholders’ understanding terms such as pathway, care continuum, patient journey, and patient experience map. Modern usage increasingly associates patient journey mapping with patient experience, identifying unmet needs and service gaps. Many published “patient journeys” are in fact aggregated PEJMs. Early patient journey mapping efforts (2006–2015) focused on disease stages, timelines, or locations of care. Various mapping approaches include key experiences, event sequences, stakeholder roles, and time-based events. Later, the ontology was proposed with dimensions of patient persona, medical timeline, and medical pathway, including emotional and physical journeys. This approach prototyped multidimensional consideration of patient experience but was intended for healthcare service reform rather than holistic PED consolidation. Recent tools like the Patient Experience Mapping Toolbox (PEMT) by the US National Health Council and the PFMD PED Navigator have advanced holistic PED consolidation, enabling navigation of impact areas defined by patients and various methods to capture PED. Based on existing good practices, pilots and prototypes, experts’ advice and literature search results, the PEJM conceptual model was developed and substantiated driven by multidimensional ontology with 8 PED attributes. Conclusions. Although this model summarizes existing approaches and good practices, it could be developed and implemented further through interactive digital solutions and wider piloting by several stakeholders across disease or therapeutic areas. Additional PEJM research and more detailed guidance is anticipated to address regulatory and HTA requirements in terms of PED submissions and appraisal procedures.
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