California Hospitals Rank Favorably on Patient Satisfaction Survey

By Kristin Rothwell, associate editor

Patients expressed satisfaction with the majority of California hospitals, according to a recent survey published by the California Healthcare Foundation and the California Institute for Systems Performance.

About 24 percent of 200 hospitals in California received above average ratings and another 51 percent received average ratings. The remaining 25 percent were rated at below average. The survey encompassed more than half of the state’s general acute-care hospitals.

For More Information: Hospital-by-Hospital Results, along with their comments on performance improvement efforts, can be viewed at CalHospitals.org. California Healthcare Foundation California Institute for Systems Performance The California Hospital Experience Survey Report

The goal of the survey, according to the California Healthcare Foundation findings, is two-fold. Firstly, it could help educate consumers so that they have a better understanding of the hospital experience when choosing the best hospital for their needs. Secondly, it could also provide information to help hospitals focus on their quality improvement efforts.

“Hospitals involved in the survey are ahead of the game,” said Lisa Payne Simon, senior program officer for the California Healthcare Foundation. “They can use this information to jump-start quality improvements.”

Each participating hospital will receive a detailed, customized report based on its patients’ responses. Simon said several hospitals that participated in past surveys used the report findings to improve the quality of patient care they provide.

The number of participating hospitals increased by 77 percent over the number that participated in the survey in 2001, the first year for the survey. The participants this year represented more than 51 percent of general acute care hospitals in the state and accounted for more than 39,000 licensed hospital beds.

“We applaud the hospitals that participate,” Simon said. “By stepping up to the plate, they position themselves to be accountable to the public and being a part of a growing national movement toward performance measurement and public reporting.”

The survey asked patients to assess their experience in eight categories: respect for patient preferences, coordination of care, information and education, physical comfort, emotional support, involvement of family and friends, transition to home and, for the first time this year, experience with safe medical practices.

Patients rated the hospitals using one, two or three stars, which indicated a rating of below average, average or above average, respectively. The overall California results represent the mean score of patients who responded to the questions within the eight categories of care.

California hospitals performed well in three areas: providing physical comfort, such as pain medication and responding to call buttons ; coordination of care between admission and discharge and respect for patient preferences in regard to treatment plans.

In the new safe medical practices category, California hospitals performed well overall.

Simon said it was important to add the safe medical practices category to this year’s survey since it has become a high priority in the health care sector as more controversy surrounds patient safety issues.

In this category, hospitals scored high for asking patients if they were allergic to medications, for helping patients to feel comfortable to ask questions and for nurses checking identification bands before giving medications, treatments or tests.

While hospitals received lower scores on whether patients felt their family had to make sure their needs were met, Simon said that she and others in her organization viewed the finding as a positive one.

“It shows that people understand that they have to be advocates for their care while in the hospital…[and] that patients have to be vigilant when it comes to issues of patient safety,” Simon said.

Patients also reported less favorable experiences in the areas of emotional support when dealing with fear or anxiety; involvement of family and friends and transitioning to home since they were unsure about what to expect, including danger signs or medication side effects.

Between 300 and 600 medical, surgical and maternity patients were randomly selected for each participating hospital and surveyed by mail. All of the patients spent at least one night in an acute-care hospital between Nov. 1, 2003, and Feb. 29, 2004. A total of 36,183 people participated in the survey.

Simon emphasized that the survey should not be used as a “be all, end all” for consumers to choose a health care organization. Instead, she said that consumers should use this information along with other indicators of quality to make an informed decision.

© 2004. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.