title: An observation unit may help improve an institution's Press Ganey satisfaction score.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  : Hospitals measure patient satisfaction through Press Ganey (PG) surveys. The impact of an emergency department observation unit (EDOU) on patient satisfaction has not been reported to date. We hypothesize that an EDOU has a positive impact on patient satisfaction results as measured by PG surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  : This is a retrospective observational analysis of PG scores collected for 8 quarters before the opening of a 13-bed EDOU in January 2002 and compared with 6 quarters post-EDOU opening, starting April 1, 2003, at a tertiary care, academic, urban hospital. The facility, physician staffing, nursing, and wait times all remained the same during this period. Mean values and a 95% confidence interval (CI) are reported and statistical significance is calculated using a t test. Significance is defined as a P < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  : The mean overall PG scores pre-EDOU was 75.2 (95% CI: 74.2-76.2) and post-EDOU was 80.2 (95% CI: 78.9-82.6), which is statistically significant (P = 0.00005). Of 9 scoring categories, 9 increased post-EDOU. Other than the category for physician scores, all other mean values were higher for the EDOU in the subcategories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  : The introduction of an observation unit appears to be associated with a statistical improvement in patient satisfaction scores as reported by PG, in the setting of same facility, physician staffing, and nursing staffing.
authors: Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA. Abhinav.Chandra@duke.edu
authors: Abhinav
authors: A
authors: Chandra
authors: Sandra
authors: S
authors: Sieck
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Hocker
authors: Charles J
authors: CJ
authors: Gerardo
authors: John
authors: J
authors: Villani
authors: Dean
authors: D
authors: Harrison
authors: Arnold
authors: A
authors: Boardwine
authors: Alexander
authors: A
authors: Limkakeng
mesh_terms: D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012107:Research Design; D013997:Time Factors; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014850:Waiting Lists