Vt. Dull et al., EVALUATING A PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT, The Joint Commission journal on quality improvement, 20(8), 1994, pp. 444-453
Background: Patient satisfaction surveys are now in use in some form a
t most hospitals and health care systems. Yet, it is unclear how well
information collected meets the needs of all groups who might benefit
from patient feedback. An evaluation was conducted at the Center for O
utcomes Research, Sisters of Providence Health System (Portland, Ore),
to determine the extent to which the survey, then almost three years
in use, was satisfying its internal consumers and to guide redesign of
the entire survey process. Method: The evaluation of the survey proce
ss was designed to address several questions: who uses the results (co
nsumers); what are their objectives (goals); what results are useful (
product); and what is done with the results (intervention utility). Te
chniques such as interviews, literature reviews, and supplemental data
collection, were used to explore the needs of each consumer group. Co
nclusion: The evaluation has led to a number of changes in the patient
satisfaction survey process. Large-scale patient satisfaction surveys
result in large-scale costs and therefore must be beneficial to multi
ple users in multiple ways.