Patient satisfaction with their inpatient hospital experience has, for the most part, increased since 2003, with the most significant gains between April and October last year, according to the 2008 Hospital Pulse Report: Patient Perspectives on American Health Care, released today by Press Ganey Associates, Inc. In January 2003, the patient satisfaction rating was 83.4 percent; by October 2007, it had risen to 84.7 percent. The study examined the experiences of more than 2.7 million patients treated at nearly 2,000 hospitals nationwide in 2007, including trends in overall patient perceptions, and variations based on metropolitan areas, services provided within the hospital, hospital size, and patient age.
Among the findings was the fact that patients age 65-79 were the most satisfied age group; patients age 35-49 were the least satisfied.
Also, according to the respondents, the top three opportunities for hospitals to improve are responding to concerns/complaints, addressing emotional needs, and including patients in treatment decisions. Those factors are strong indicators of success in the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS®) public reporting process, which provides transparency and public accountability of healthcare quality through public reporting. The most highly predictive factor of HCAHPS success is communication among caregivers, said the report. Read the report.
