The effect of a wearable visual cue on patient satisfaction survey scores in the acute inpatient rehabilitation setting

Anthony J Pellicane

doi:10.4236/health.2013.56a2002

Abstract

With a portion of healthcare reimbursement now dependent on the patient’s report of the hospital experience, healthcare systems are looking for ways to improve patient satisfaction scores. In this study, one inpatient physiatrist at an acute inpatient rehabilitation facility wore a button on the right lapel of his white coat at all times which read, “Ask ME about your TREATMENT and PROGRESS!!!” in order to determine if a wearable visual cue prompting the patient to discuss his or her treatment and progress alters Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey (PGPSS) scores. Mean score on the physician-specific PGPSS question “How well the rehabilitation doctor kept you informed about your treatment and progress” was calculated retrospectively for five months before and after the physiatrist donned the button. Comparisons were made to two other inpatient physiatrists. For the button-wearing physiatrist, mean score for the physician-specific patient satisfaction survey question for the five months before donning the button was 88.1 ± 11.5; and, for the five months after donning the button, the mean score was 95.8 ± 5.9. These scores were marginally statistically different (p = 0.07). Conversely, the difference in mean scores over the same time periods for two other inpatient physiatrists who did not wear the button did not approach statistical significance. In conclusion, a wearable visual cue improved the PGPSS score specific to the question the visual cue addressed.

Highlights

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has created an incentive fund for health care reimbursement based partly on patients’ report of the hospital experience [1]
This study describes an attempt at developing a simple, inexpensive way to foster patient-physician interaction that would, in turn, better the patient’s subjective realization of the hospital experience and result in improved Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey (PGPSS) scores
Mean score for the physician-specific PGPSS question “How well the rehabilitation doctor kept you informed about your treatment and progress” was calculated from January 2012-May 2012 and from July 2012-November 2012 for three different inpatient physiatrists who work within the same group in the same hospital

Summary

Introduction

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has created an incentive fund for health care reimbursement based partly on patients’ report of the hospital experience [1]. With private payers likely to follow this model in the future [2], practitioners, hospitals, and hospital systems must adapt. As a result, improving the patient experience (as measured by patient satisfaction surveys) has become a focus of healthcare executives and has led to the development of creative ways to please patients in the hope of improving scores and revenue [3]. This study describes an attempt at developing a simple, inexpensive way to foster patient-physician interaction that would, in turn, better the patient’s subjective realization of the hospital experience and result in improved Press Ganey Patient Satisfaction Survey (PGPSS) scores

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion