Trends in patient perception of hospital care quality

The purpose of this paper is to investigate trends in patient hospital quality perceptions between 1999 and 2010.

Original data from 11 cross-sectional surveys carried out in a French single university hospital were analyzed. Based on responses to a 29-item survey instrument, overall and subscale perception scores (range 0-10) were computed covering six key hospital care quality dimensions.

Of 16,516 surveyed patients, 10,704 (64.8 percent) participated in the study. The median overall patient perception score decreased from 7.86 (25th-75th percentiles, 6.67-8.85) in 1999 to 7.82 (25th-75th percentiles, 6.67-8.74) in 2010 (p for trend < 0.001). A decreasing trend was observed for the living arrangement subscale score (from 7.78 in 1999 to 7.50 in 2010, p for trend < 0.001). Food service and room comfort perceptions deteriorated over the study period while patients increasingly reported better explanations before being examined.

Patient perception scores may disguise divergent judgments on different care aspect while individual items highlight specific areas with room for improvement.

Despite growing pressure on healthcare expenditure, this single-center study showed only modest reduction in patients' hospital-care perceptions in the 2000s.