Recording of patient-satisfaction in hospital

Patient-satisfaction is an essential part of the providing quality in hospi tal, which is getting more and more important Such satisfaction can be reco rded with a standardised multi-dimensional questionnaire An enquiry was und ertaken on patients of the Department of Medicine I, Klinikum Ludwigsburg, to find out whether a multi-dimensional questionnaire is a suitable and pra ctical instrument to measure patient-satisfaction and whether concrete hint s for improvements can result from such questioning. Dimensions of patient- satisfaction included "care by doctors," "care by nursing staff," "care by others," "food and accommodation," "daily activity and administration". A s cale for answers (total 84 items with closed answers) was developed for eac h of the dimensions. A one-month pre-test served to ascertain acceptance an d understanding of the questionnaire., In the three-month main test period questionnaires were given to all patients over 16 years old on the day befo re dismissal who understand German language sufficiently. Participation was voluntary and anonymous. Totally 248 patients took part. Finally 200 quest ionnaires could be evaluated (74 women, 124 men; median age 55 years). The scales were shown to have a high internal consistency. On the base of a "sa tisfaction-importance-portfolio" that clearly shows the deficits, improveme nts especially in the patient information by doctors and nursing staff coul d be proposed. The expense of such a study is reasonable compared to the be nefit. This is in particular the evaluation of the providing quality and th e chances for improvements resulting from this which can be used for advant ages in competition.