Results from a survey rating patient satisfaction at Rhode Island hospitals – set for release later this month – should provide a benchmark for hospitals, highlighting areas where they excel and can improve.
“Each hospital will be able to look at different areas and identify where their strengths and opportunities lie,” said Cathy E. Boni, vice president of clinical affairs for the Hospital Association of Rhode Island.
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Between April and July, patients at 13 hospitals in the state were randomly chosen to answer questions regarding their hospital experience, rating everything from their physician’s diagnosis to the cleanliness of their room and the flavor of the food. As many as 750 patients from each hospital were sampled.
The survey is part of a program created by a 1998 state law – sponsored by Lt. Gov. Charles J. Fogarty (then a state senator) – aimed at improving quality and promoting accountability among Rhode Island’s health-care providers.
The patient-satisfaction report – to be released Nov. 27 by HARI and the state Department of Health – is the first phase of that program. Late next year, a report rating each hospital’s clinical performance will be released, measuring clinical outcomes for the most common conditions in Rhode Island hospitals: heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia. Data for that report is being collected now.
The three-page, patient-satisfaction survey was overseen by Press Ganey Associates, a South Bend, Ind.-based health-care research firm that has undertaken similar provider surveys in other states. Rhode Island health official hosted focus-group sessions with patients beforehand to determine areas of care deemed most important to them.
Each hospital will receive ratings on eight categories: nursing care, physician care, treatment results, patient education, admitting, support-staff courtesy and food service.
Several questions were asked for each category: Examples include: Did you receive medications in a timely manner? Did the physician adequately explain your diagnosis and treatment? Was the wait time during admission acceptable?
Hospitals will be assigned ratings – 1, 2 or 3 “diamonds” – for each of the eight categories, based on comparisons to Press Ganey’s nationwide database.
A rating of one diamond means patients rated their hospital experience below average, and the facility needs to improve that facet of care. Two diamonds means the hospital performed within an average satisfaction range and three diamonds indicates an above-average experience for patients.
The report also will include a section on patient loyalty, generated by answers to questions such as would they return to that hospital and would they recommend the facility to family or friends.
Until now, it’s been difficult to compare patient-satisfaction ratings between hospitals because each facility rates varying aspects of care using different techniques. The new report is an attempt to standardize patient satisfaction, creating benchmarks so hospitals can measure themselves against each other.
And they will be weighing patient satisfaction against hospitals throughout the country, too, since their ratings are assigned based on Press Ganey’s findings from other states.
“All hospitals measure patient perception of care, but they’ve all been doing it differently,” Boni said. “Now, they will be able to come together in one room and say ‘what are you guys doing on nursing care that’s working so well?’ And the hospitals have shown a willingness to share those best practices with one another.”
One of the program’s chief goals is to arm consumers with the information they need to make informed choices. The findings, officials say, will be easily understood and useful for the average health-care consumer.
But health officials stress that the information should be used as just one of several decision-making tools. They say patients still will rely on recommendations from their physician, family and friends when choosing a hospital.
Eventually, all licensed health-care providers in the state – including nursing homes, long-term care facilities and other providers – will be measured and report its results publicly using similar criteria.
The program’s steering committee, chaired by Health Director Patricia Nolan, includes representatives from a number of groups, including health-care providers, consumers, insurers and federal health agencies.
