title: Our patients expect more (and so do we): it's time to rethink patient satisfaction.
abstract: A current focus of healthcare organizations and legislation requires hospitals to place more importance on patient experience and satisfaction than ever before. Institutional patient satisfaction survey tools yield data that represent approximately 5% of patients and may not represent the typical patient experience. Moreover, our research demonstrates that only 1% of surveyed providers rely on these data as their primary source of patient satisfaction feedback. The low response rate, the delayed timing of the feedback and a lack of usability for clinicians raise questions about the value of these tools to front-line healthcare providers - those most responsible for the patients' experience of care.
authors.affiliation: Leslie Beard Ashley, BDes, is the director of research & innovation at Trillium Health Partners, and was previously at University Health Network's Centre for Innovation in Complex Care (CICC), in Toronto, Ontario. Her work focuses on using design thinking to improve patient care, the patient experience and the overall healthcare system. She can be contacted at leslie.ashley@trilliumhealthpartners.ca and 905-848-7580 x1742.
authors.forename: Leslie Beard
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Ashley
authors.affiliation: Valerie Mais, BEng, is a project lead at CICC. Her work involves implementing new and useful ways to measure, collect and report performance feedback, including patient satisfaction, to inter-professional care teams.
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mais
authors.affiliation: Howard Abrams, BEng, MD, FRCP (C), is the executive director of CICC. He is currently associate professor with the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and division head of general internal medicine at the University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospitals. His interests are in improving the quality and efficiency of care through system redesign and the use of information technology to promote a better experience for both patients and healthcare providers.
authors.forename: Howard
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.affiliation: Hannah Wong, PhD, is an assistant professor within the School of Health Policy and Management at York University, in Toronto, Ontario. She uses system dynamics methodology to help clinicians, managers and policy makers move forward from a better understanding of system issues to taking action in redesigning policy and practice to improve hospital-wide patient flow and resource use.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Dante Morra, MD, MBA, FRCP (C), is the chief of staff at Trillium Health Partners, a co-founder of CICC, an associate professor of Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and adjunct professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. His research focus is in hospital process improvement, healthcare innovation and the effective allocation of resources.
authors.forename: Dante
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morra
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D057240:Patient Preference; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D058996:Quality Improvement