title: Patient satisfaction questionnaire--how to do them successfully.
abstract: In the current consumer-orientated environment, customer surveys are widely used to assess needs and levels of satisfaction. For the dental practice to succeed, it is important to assess the needs and levels of satisfaction of the patients. The planning and execution of a Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire survey is discussed, along with the quality assurance and marketing benefits that may accrue to the practice applying the lessons learnt from the survey.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A well run survey will not only reveal levels of patient satisfaction with the practice care and service--a Quality Assurance exercise--but will also enable the practitioner to assess--and even influence--patients' awareness of the levels of care and service being delivered--a marketing benefit.
authors.affiliation: The Holt Dental Practice, Norfolk, UK.
authors.forename: Vernon P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Holt
mesh_terms: D003729:Dental Care; D006801:Humans; D008389:Marketing of Health Services / Q000379:methods; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011215:Practice Management, Dental; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires