Time to make patient experience surveys matter

by Alicia Caramenico, FierceHealthcare
With reimbursement tied to patient satisfaction, hospitals increasingly are administering patient experience surveys to gauge how patients perceive their care and hospital visit.
But as FierceHealthcare reported earlier this week, some industry experts are questioning whether patient experience surveys accurately measure quality. Previous research that found no link between patient satisfaction and quality outcomes doesn't help clarify the issue.
The topic has generated some discussion in our LinkedIn group, where readers are encouraging the use of patient experience surveys as one component of measuring a hospital's quality. I agree that patient experience surveys can provide some valuable intel on how a hospital delivers care. But as some readers pointed out, they're not the be-all, end-all.
To find out how hospitals can make these questionnaires more useful, read the full article at FierceHealthcare.

Source: hospital impact - January 17, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs