[Patient-experienced quality assessed in two national surveys].
BACKGROUND
Surveys of patients' experiences can be used for other purposes than to disclose patients' overall satisfaction. They can, for example, also be used to select focus areas in the health care sector. In this article two large national surveys of patient-experienced quality are compared. The advantages and disadvantages of the applied methods and various applications of the surveys are discussed.


METHODS
The Danish National Patient Satisfaction Survey was based on a questionnaire with questions about patients' experiences. The questionnaires were sent to the patients after discharge. All 62 public Danish hospitals were included. The Patient Reports Survey was based on a questionnaire with questions about whether the patient had received certain services. The questionnaire was given to each patient on the day of discharge and returned before the patient left the hospital. All medical wards were invited to participate in the survey.


RESULTS
Despite differences in questions, design and methods, the two surveys showed agreement in the areas where patients experienced flaws in the quality of services.


CONCLUSIONS
In future surveys the advantages and disadvantages of data feedback, inclusion on the basis of data registers, sample sizes and the possibility of being supplied with ward-specific data should be taken into consideration. The advantages and disadvantages of involving employees should be counterbalanced in each survey. The Danish National Patient Satisfaction Survey is suitable for external evaluation and benchmarking between hospitals, while the applied methods in the Patient Reports Survey are best suited to internal self-evaluation and quality improvement within hospital departments.
Freil
Morten
M
Enheden for brugerundersøgelser i Københavns Amt, Amtssygehuset i Glostrup, Afsnit 87. mofr@glostruphosp.kbhamt.dk
Lorentzen
Jakob
J
Rasmussen
Lisbeth
L
Gut
Rikke
R
Knudsen
Janne Lehmann
JL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires