Hospital Satisfaction Does the satisfaction of hospitals correlate to the number of visits? ISSUE 01 August 2013 Dalton Wagman http://switchboard.nrdc.org
The College I am a student at York College of Pennsylvania. This publication is for Writing 202.
About Me
The purpose of this publication.
I am a sophomore at York College of Pennsylvania. I am studying to get my Baccalaure-
This publication is for a college class, and for the individuals who are interested. This publication is from a peer reviewed college paper. The research, data collection, data, and results are all done on a college level. What you will be reading are accurate results, and can be used to implement possible changes in a hospital, but this is not intended to go directly to hospitals. The photos are each cited to the proper online site for they
ate in Respiratory Therapy. I work at York Hospital, so this research has a little emotion of my own behind it. I am excited to see the results and relate
are not mine. Please enjoy this publication and let it show you how others
them to my own job and my
feel about hospitals as well.
future career. I just wanted to thank all of the individuals that responded to my survey, I could not have done it without you all!
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Purpose and Background Behind the Research Patient satisfaction is a must for
I will conduct the research intend-
those who work in healthcare, and this
ing on looking at the average number of
stresses hospitals as well. One way of deter-
times that an individual has been to a hospi-
mining a patient’s satisfaction is by handing
tal in the past two years and relate it to the
out a survey. The survey cannot be asking
overall satisfaction of the hospital.
hospital satisfaction specifically though because even though a patient or visitor may be happy overall with the hospital, there may be areas of the hospital that the individual was not satisfied with (Oswald, Turner, Snipes & Butler, 1998). One way to determine satisfaction of specific areas is to add the area specific questions to the survey (“Patient satisfaction survey:,” 2007).
Beyond the main-purpose question
The Questions
asked in regards to correlation, I am also looking at individual parts of hospitals to see
if they are high or low in relation to the overall satisfaction. The various sections I will be
(Male/Female)
interested in and asking are: emergency
other staff, satisfaction of tests, satisfaction Asking patients to fill out a satisfac-
of surgery, satisfaction of treatment/ recov-
tion survey is common practice in many hos-
ery, and specific age groups. The purpose of
pitals. This action is backed up heavily with
asking for age groups is to show that the
previous research. The only issue is that the
surveys reached a large group of individuals
previous research is very detailed and does
of all ages. The purpose of singling out the
not simply ask what the overall satisfaction
nurses and doctors from the rest of the staff
is for everyone alike, whether they have
is because they usually have the most pa-
been to a hospital or not.
tient contact and the relationship they have
In the end, the results can be used
(Scissons, 2011) (Talaga & Ogilivie, 2009). Or
to show hospitals how satisfaction varies, if
ask about the quality of care and how it re-
it does, with individuals as they visit hospi-
lates to the patients’ satisfaction (Prakash,
tals. I will also provide ideas on how to im-
2010) (Quintana, Gonzalez, Bilbao, Aizpuru,
prove these satisfaction levels.
What age group are you in? (15-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45+) How long was the wait for emergency? (very long, long, neutral, short, very short, did not go through emergency)
Esteban, San-Sebastian & de-la-Sierra, 2006).
How satisfied were you with the nurses? (very unsatisfied—very satisfied) (v u—v s)
Another research article asks how the quality, trust, and patient encounters affect the
How many times have you visited a hospital in the forty-eight continental United States in the past two years? (0—6+)
tions such as emergency room waiting times
How many times have you been admitted into a hospital in the forty-eight continental United States in the past two years? (0—6+)
with each patient and visitor is significant. Previous research articles ask ques-
Do you reside in the forty-eight continental United States? (Yes/No)
room waiting times, satisfaction of doctors, satisfaction of nurses, satisfaction of all
What is your gender?
overall satisfaction (Chang, Chen & Len,
How satisfied were you with the doctors? (v u—v s)
2013).
With the help of these articles and others like it, I developed the correlation that I will be looking for. The question I will
(v u—v s)
be asking is “does the average satisfaction rise or fall as the average number of times an individual goes to a hospital rises or falls”.
How satisfied were you with the rest of the staff?
How satisfied are you with your local hospital? (v u—v s)
How would you rate your satisfaction for each part of the hospital?
- tests, surgery, recovery/ treatment (v u—v s, N/A)
Data Collection And Results http://eofdreams.com
1- Very Unsatisfied 2– Unsatisfied
Over the course of a week, 104 responses were collected from
correlation between the average number of visits
3– Neutral
and the average satisfaction rating.
4– Satisfied
my survey. Fifty-two of the respondents were female and fifty-two were male, and they were all from the forty-eight continental United States. This mimics the male to female ratio of the United States. The first main point that I focused on was the number of visits per individual. The number of visits chosen most was one visit in the past two years. The method of putting the satisfaction into numbers is as easy as one through six. One is “very unsatisfied”, two is “unsatisfied”, three is “neutral”, four is “satisfied”, five is “very satisfied”. The average satisfaction was 3.57 or between neutral
The second main point is the correlation
5– Very Satisfied
between the number of times an individual was admitted into a hospital in the past two years to the overall satisfaction. The number of admissions picked most was zero. The average satisfaction
and satisfied. There is no was 3.49 or between neutral and satisfied. There was no correlation between the number of times an individual was admitted to the satisfaction rating. Other parameters of my results are expressed as well. This includes the wait for emergency. The satisfaction of doctors, nurses, and other staff. The percentage of the age groups reached. Lastly, three major parts of hospitalization: tests, surgery, and treatment/ recovery. Each of these parameters are displayed in the following graphs on the proceeding pages.
Conclusion After reviewing all of the research I noticed that the overall satisfaction was consistently neutral to satisfied. This is good because it shows that the care provided is close to the same each time. What does concern
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me is the lengths of the wait in
Resources
the emergency room, and the
Korsch, B., Gozzi, E., & Francis, V. (1968). Gaps in doctor-patient communication: I. doctor patient interaction and patient satisfaction. Pediatrics Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, 42(855), 855 869. Retrieved from http://pediatrics.aappublictions.org
answers for “the rest of the
Chang, C., Chen, S., & Lan, Y. (2013). Service quality, trust, and patient satisfaction in interpersonal-based medical service encounters. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 13(22), Retrieved from http:/ www.biomedcentral.com
hospitals could look into upgrad-
Prakash, B. (2010). Patient satisfaction . Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery, 3(3), 151 155. doi: 10.4103/0974-2077.74491
and the computers so they run
Quintana, J., Gonzalez, N., Bilbao, A., Aizpuru , F., Escobar, A., Esteban, C., San-Sebastian, J., & de-la-Sierra, E. (2006). Predictors of patient satisfaction with hospital health care. BioMed Central Health Services Research, 6(102), doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-6-102
the number of “neutral” re-
(2007). Patient satisfaction survey: Outpatient office. AGA Institute Oswald, S., Turner, D., Snipes, R., & Butler, D. (1998). Quality determinants and hospital satisfaction: Perceptions of the facility and staff might be key influencing factors. Marketing Health Services, 19-22. Talaga, T., & Ogilvie , M. (2009). New website shows average wait times in each hospital's emergency room .The Toronto Star
increased number of neutral staff” category. To speed up the time in the emergency room, ing various sections of the emergency room such as the software faster.
In regards to lowering
sponses for the rest of the staff, the hospital can take more time to express that each employee matters to the patient or visitor; no matter how long or brief the employee confronts the individual. Each individual matters, and so does everything that the staff
Kim, K., Kim, K., Kim, D., Kim, J., & Kang, S. (2006). Brand equity in hospital marketing. Journal of Business Research, 61, 75-82. Retrieved from www.sciencedirect.com
does. With these two possible
Nelson, W., & Campfield, J. (2008). The ethics of hospital marketing . Healthcare Management Ethics
all hospital satisfaction could
Scissons, H. (2011). Emergency room wait time drop. The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan), A3.
raise up to satisfied or even
changes implemented, the over-
higher. All in all, I am pleasantly surprised that the satisfaction is pretty consistent throughout.
Hospital Satisfaction Issue 01 August 2013 Dalton Wagman York College of Pennsylvania