Patient satisfaction as an indicator of quality care in independent healthfacilities: Developing and assessing a tool to enhance public accountability

The objective of this research was to examine the performance of a brief pa tient survey about quality of care received in community-based diagnostic a nd therapeutic facilities. The survey was administered to patients in 44 fa cilities that were also scheduled for a formal external assessment. The res ponse rate was 53%. Patients generally rated their care positively; 18.5% o f patients rated at least 1 item as fair or poor. The amount of information received about risks and complications was rated least favorably; concern and caring shown by staff was rated most favorably, The 10 items which pati ents rated regarding aspects of quality formed an internally consistent sca le (alpha = .93). Patients' ratings were not useful predictors of assessor ratings. Although patients' ratings cannot substitute for expert oa site as sessments, they are an important part of a quality management program. The patient survey provides additional, complementary information about compone nts of quality care that are important to them.