title: The impact of post-discharge patient call back on patient satisfaction in two academic emergency departments.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients' satisfaction is a common parameter tracked by health care systems and Emergency Departments (EDs).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether telephone calls by health care providers to patients after discharge from the ED was associated with improved patient satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of Press Ganey (PG; Press Ganey Associates, South Bend, IN) surveys from two EDs operated by the University of California San Diego Health System. Responses to the YES/NO question, "After discharge, did you receive a phone call from an ED staff member?" was compared to the responses to the question "likelihood of recommending this ED to others" (LR). This variable could be ranked with a score of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). Responses were dichotomized into two groups, 1-4 and 5. Chi-squared was performed to assess LR between those answering YES vs. NO to the call back question. Differences in proportion, 95% confidence interval (CI), and p-value are reported. Rankings for percentage of 5s across all EDs in the PG database were compared based upon YES/NO responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 12-month study period, about 30,000 surveys were mailed and 2250 (7.5%) were returned. Three hundred forty-seven (15.4%) checked off YES for the call back question. Percentage of 5s for LR for NO call back was 51.1% and for YES call back was 70.6% (difference = 19.5; 95% CI 14.0-24.6; p < 0.001).These values correlated with an ED ranking of 14(th) and 85(th) percentile, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This retrospective study demonstrated a strong association between post-visit patient call back and LR. Further prospective study with control for co-variables is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California 92103-8676, USA.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Guss
authors.forename: Hyuma
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Leland
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Castillo
mesh_terms: D000359:Aftercare / Q000523:psychology*; D002140:California; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000592:standards*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone