Does the patient's inherent rating tendency influence reported satisfaction scores and affect division ranking?

To determine the impact of adjusting for rating tendency (RT) on patient satisfaction scores in a large teaching hospital and to assess the impact of adjustment on the ranking of divisions.

Cross-sectional survey.

Large 2200-bed university teaching hospital.

All adult patients hospitalized during a 1-month period in one of 20 medical divisions.

None.

Patient experience of care measured by the Picker Patient Experience questionnaire and RT scores.

Problem scores were weakly but significantly associated with RT. Division ranking was slightly modified in RT adjusted models. Division ranking changed substantially in case-mix adjusted models.

Adjusting patient self-reported problem scores for RT did impact ranking of divisions, although marginally. Further studies are needed to determine the impact of RT when comparing different institutions, particularly across inter-cultural settings, where the difference in RT may be more substantial.