title: Examining the role of patient experience surveys in measuring health care quality.
abstract: Patient care experience surveys evaluate the degree to which care is patient-centered. This article reviews the literature on the association between patient experiences and other measures of health care quality. Research indicates that better patient care experiences are associated with higher levels of adherence to recommended prevention and treatment processes, better clinical outcomes, better patient safety within hospitals, and less health care utilization. Patient experience measures that are collected using psychometrically sound instruments, employing recommended sample sizes and adjustment procedures, and implemented according to standard protocols are intrinsically meaningful and are appropriate complements for clinical process and outcome measures in public reporting and pay-for-performance programs.
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA, USA ranhangp@rand.org.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Anhang Price
authors.affiliation: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Marc N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Elliott
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.affiliation: UCLA Department of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Ron D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.affiliation: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Lehrman
authors.affiliation: The Severyn Group, Ashburn, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rybowski
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edgman-Levitan
authors.affiliation: Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Cleary
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D061214:Patient Safety; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States
keywords: CAHPS; health care quality; health care quality measurement; health care surveys; patient experience; patient satisfaction