Bedside or not bedside: Evaluation of patient satisfaction in intensive medical rehabilitation wards.
BACKGROUND
Concerns that bedside presentation (BsP) rounds could make patients uncomfortable led many residency programs to move daily rounds outside the patients' room (OsPR). We performed a prospective quasi-experimental controlled study measuring the effect of these two approaches on patient satisfaction.


METHODS
Patient satisfaction was measured using the Picker questionnaire (PiQ). Results are expressed in problematic percentage scores scaled from 0 = best-100 = worst. During three months, 3 wards of a 6 ward medical rehabilitation division implemented BsP and 3 control wards kept their usual organization of rounds. In total, 90 patients of each group were included in the study and completed the PiQ.


RESULTS
Socio-clinical characteristics were similar in both groups: mean age = 67 years (SD = 13), mean Charlson comorbidity index = 8.6 (2.4); mean length of stay = 22 days (12). During their stay, patients in the BsP units had a mean of 14.3 (8) BsP rounds and 0.5 (0.8) OsPR; control patients had a mean of 0.9 (0.7) BsP and 14.8 (7.3) OsPR (p<0.0001). Patients in BsP units reported lower problematic scores regarding coordination of care (39% vs 45%, p = 0.029), involvement of family/friends (29 vs 41%, p = 0.006) and continuity/transition (44% vs 54%, p = 0.020); two questions of the PiQ had worse scores in the BsP: trust in nurses (46.7% vs 30 %, p = 0.021) and recommendation of the institution (61.1% vs 44.4%. p = 0.025). No worsening in dimensions such as respect for patient preferences was seen.


CONCLUSIONS
BsP rounds influenced the patient-healthcare professionals' encounter. These rounds were associated with improved patient satisfaction with care, particularly regarding interprofessional collaboration and discharge planning.
Division of General Medical Rehabilitation, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Christophe
C
Luthy
Division of Quality of Care, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Patricia
P
Francis Gerstel
Division of Oncology, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Angela
A
Pugliesi
Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Valérie
V
Piguet
Division of General Medical Rehabilitation, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Anne-Françoise
AF
Allaz
Division of General Medical Rehabilitation, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.|Division of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Christine
C
Cedraschi
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods; D057566:Self Report