Patient satisfaction relates to the quality of service provided to patients, and it is an important indicator for assessing the performance of health plans. Physician reimbursements and other incentives are influenced by patient satisfaction.

Do you think patient satisfaction reflects quality of care? Why or why not? What may be some factors that influence patient satisfaction?

Respond to the discussion post:

Patient satisfaction is an essential and widely used measurement for the evaluation of quality of care in a clinical practice. Patient satisfaction impacts patient retention, clinical outcomes, and malpractice claims. It also affects the efficient, timely, and patient-centered delivery of quality medical care (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014).

Positive associations were linked between patient effectiveness/safety and experience, including patient experience in quality improvement. Reducing the trauma experience of hospitalization could help improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Efforts such as providing rest and nourishment, personalization of care, reducing stress as well as providing a post-discharge safety net are essential techniques to reduce the hospitalization trauma and improve patient satisfaction (Zakerimoghadam, 2016)

Patients’ perception of their care also is a reflection of their satisfaction level and the doctor-patient relationship. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) is the most studied database for measuring patients’ experience of their care on an individual patient and the hospital (Jha et al., 2008). It’s a useful tool towards helping healthcare providers think more broadly about outcomes that matter to both them and their patients.

As for the patient experience scores, these may be associated with more objective clinical quality measure scores. Hospitals that have better engagement with patients may encourage greater adherence to follow-up appointments and overall patient satisfaction (Lyu et al., 2013). Patients who are more satisfied with a hospital may be more likely to follow the recommendations of the providers they trust. Better patient satisfaction experience scores could indicate that the medical practice has advanced leadership, stronger teamwork, dedicated to improvement as well as be associated with a better quality of care overall.

References:

Al-Abri, R., & Al-Balushi, A. (2014). Patient satisfaction survey as a tool towards quality improvement. Oman medical journal, 29(1), 3.

Zakerimoghadam, M., Sadeghi, S., Ghiyasvandian, S., & Kazemnejad, A. (2016). The effect of trauma intervention on the satisfaction of patients admitted to the emergency department: a clinical trial study: Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal, 18(4).

Jha, A. K., Orav, E. J., Zheng, J., & Epstein, A. M. (2008). Patients’ perception of hospital care in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(18), 1921-1931.

Lyu, H., Wick, E. C., Housman, M., Freischlag, J. A., & Makary, M. A. (2013). Patient satisfaction as a possible indicator of quality surgical care. JAMA Surgery, 148(4), 362-367.

Discussion Post Two:

Patient satisfaction is very important to every healthcare organization to determine how their facilities are operating. There are incentives that are given only if organizations have high patient satisfaction ratings. The ACA in 2012 used the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HCAHPS) with their valued based purchasing policies and reimbursements to influence organizations to have high scores on survey. Organizations are rewarded if their organization receives a high score on their survey. This incentive has organizations striving to give their patients the best care possible. Patient satisfaction does reflect the quality of care received by patients. If the care given is not what it should be and doesn’t meet a certain standard the patients can’t be happy about the care they received. If they are unsatisfied that will be reflected in the patient surveys. All organizations participates in patient surveys. They are critical tools that gives feedback on how well or poor the facility is doing. Some factors that have been shown to influence a patients level of satisfaction are patients involved in decision making, good communication, the amount of time spent with the doctor, and receiving the expected care needed.

Five factors that affect patient satisfaction. (2018, June 08). Retrieved from https://www.aafp.org/journals/fpm/blogs/inpractice…