What Do Your Patients Think About You?

To make the survey easier for patients, many experts advise using a consistent rating scale. A five-point scale is common, such as “poor, fair, good, very good, or excellent” or from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree.”

At the end, provide blank space for the patient’s comments about the visit or suggestions for improvement, Dr. Hong suggests.

If you use a survey vendor, ask if you can customize the survey. That will allow you to ask questions specific to your practice.

As for survey length, Dr. Schned says the questionnaire should obtain enough information to be meaningful but not so long as to discourage the patient from responding. Mail surveys typically are one or two pages, but Woodcock says in-office surveys should be brief—no more than five questions.

Some experts recommend test marketing the survey with a small number of patients before using it on a larger scale. An improperly worded question, such as one that asks about two different measures, may result in unusable answers, according to Hertz.

What To Do With the Results

For an in-office survey, Woodcock suggests reviewing response data twice a month. Dr. Schned says the number of responses should be large to ensure validity and may require a longer survey period. He appreciates receiving a departmental quarterly report from their survey vendor showing a number of patients surveyed that he considers substantial—around 100 for six rheumatologists in a three-month period.

Dr. Schned says the rheumatology department at Park Nicollet Clinic has implemented changes based on responses to one survey question. For example, results that showed lower satisfaction scores with the time it took staff to answer the telephone led the rheumatologists to take action. The department added another nurse to answer phones, as well as an automated system that told patients how long the estimated wait time was. Subsequent surveys found improved satisfaction scores on that point, he says.

Dr. King agrees that some specific survey questions can drive the provider to make changes, but adds, “The overall score is more important than an individual question.”

Both Dr. King and Dr. Hong post results of their patient satisfaction surveys for their staff to see. “It rewards success or points to the need to improve,” Dr. King says.