PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEYS AS A MARKET-RESEARCH TOOL FOR GENERAL PRACTICES

Background Recent policy developments, embracing the notions of consum er choice, quality of care, and increased general practitioner control over practice budgets have resulted in a new competitive environment in primary care. General practitioners must now be more aware of how t heir patients feel about the services they receive, and patient satisf action surveys can be an effective tool for general practices. Aim. A survey was undertaken to investigate the use of a patient satisfaction survey and whether aspects of patient satisfaction varied according t o sociodemographic characteristics such as age, sex, social class, hou sing tenure and length of time in education. Method A sample of 2173 a dults living in Medway District Health Authority were surveyed by post al questionnaire in September 1991 in order to elicit their views on g eneral practice services. Results. Levels of satisfaction varied with age, with younger people being consistently less satisfied with genera l practice services than older people. Women, those in social classes 1-3N, home owners and those who left school aged 17 years or older wer e more critical of primary care services than men, those in social cla sses 3M-5, tenants and those who left school before the age of 17 year s. Conclusion. Surveys and analyses of this kind, if conducted for a s ingle practice, can form the basis of a marketing strategy aimed at op timizing list size, list composition, and service quality. Satisfactio n surveys can be readily incorporated into medical audit and financial management.