MEDICAL PATIENTS ASSESSMENTS OF THEIR CARE DURING HOSPITALIZATION - INSIGHTS FOR INTERNISTS

OBJECTIVE: To assess, from the patient's perspective, selected aspects of the quality of inpatient hospital care in the United States. DESIG N: A cross-sectional survey, using telephone interviews of patients di scharged from the medical services of a probability sample of 62 publi c and private, nonprofit, nonfederal acute care hospitals in the Unite d States. The participating patients reported: discrete, clinically im portant elements of hospital care; preferences for involvement in care ; health status; sociodemographic characteristics; and overall satisfa ction with their hospitalization. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: 2,839 patient s drawn as a probability sample. INTERVENTIONS: None MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: For 32 of the 50 questions about potential problems enco untered during hospitalization, at least 10% of the patients gave a re sponse indicating a problem, One-third of the patients having a physic ian (31.8%) reported that that physician did not care for them during hospitalization. Other frequently reported problems included not recei ving information about the hospital routine (45.1%), not being told wh om to ask for help (33.9%), having pain that could have been relieved by more prompt attention (19.9%), and not being given adequate informa tion and guidance about activities and care after discharge from the h ospital (21.4-36.1%). Most patients preferred to be informed about imp ortant aspects of their care (94.7%), but their preferences for involv ement In care varied widely. CONCLUSIONS: Information from hospitalize d medical patients identified several areas of concern that should be the focus of attention and could lead to systematic restructuring of h ospital-based care.