Patient satisfaction: examine your practice through their eyes

In an environment of constant change, effective management decisions are harder to make. Physicians and clinic managers often miss valuable information from one key group--the patients. Their input builds a framework for sound solutions. The most efficient, unbiased collection method is a patient satisfaction study. With guidance from some one who is experienced in survey design and handling, physicians and managers will find these studies are easy to administer, are tools for learning and help build patient loyalty. Effectively designed studies give proportion to issues raised by patients. This information helps physicians and managers make good decisions on practice style, operations and service delivery. In the two case studies of primary care practices included in this article, the physician partners had very different issues of concern than the patients did. Without the studies, the physicians might have made poor decisions on the future of their clinics. Insurance providers recommend regular satisfaction studies to measure quality improvements, a clinic's strengths and weaknesses, and the patients' expectations. Patients are your lifetime partners and have valuable information for the survival of a practice. They help define where a practice is and where it should be.