Does a personalized approach improve patient satisfaction in thoracic oncology?

To evaluate patients' quality of life (QOL) at admission to permit definition and implementation of a personalized plan of multidimensional care.

In 2007, patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours at the Thoracic Surgery Department of a tertiary referral cancer center received QOL assessment at admission by European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) questionnaires QLQ-C30 and LC13. Patients were asked to anonymously express their satisfaction with care at discharge by using the EORTC IN-PATSAT32 questionnaire. During the second part of the study (July-December 2007), specific interventions were proposed in critical areas identified by the questionnaires.

During 2007, 898 patients completed QOL assessment at admission and 805 patients anonymously expressed their satisfaction with care at discharge. Overall patient satisfaction significantly improved in the second part of the study (85.4 +/- 16.7 vs 91.9 +/- 13.1; P = .009). The most significant improvement was recorded in nurses' information provision (67.7 +/- 24.1 vs 80.2 +/- 20.2; P = .0014) and availability (70.4 +/- 22.8 vs 84.3 +/- 19.2; P <.001). Surprisingly, the third-ranking improvement was recorded for the hospital access scale, which was the item with the lowest score in both periods and for which no specific modification occurred during the study period.

Use of a simple and reliable evaluation of QOL at admission contributed to improved quality of administered care. This approach permits focused management of ongoing problems, close cooperation between caregivers, and a more flexible response to patient needs.