Unmet Patient Expectations for Interventions Decrease Provider Satisfaction Scores.

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Health Services Research
• Patient Satisfaction

Background:

• Physician performance is increasingly evaluated by healthcare quality measures, including patient satisfaction.
• Patient satisfaction is often assessed using surveys like the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS).
• While patient expectations' role in satisfaction is studied, their specific impact in surgical specialty clinics remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of patient expectations for interventions on patient satisfaction in orthopedic specialty clinics.
• To determine if unmet expectations, particularly for surgical interventions, affect physician ratings.

Main Methods:

• A study involving 126 patients in orthopedic clinics utilized pre- and post-visit surveys based on CAHPS.
• Patients reported expected orthopedic services, rated physicians on Likert scales, and listed services received.
• Satisfaction was compared between patients with met versus unmet expectations for interventions.

Main Results:

• 45% of patients reported unmet expectations for interventions, rating their physicians lower (9.0±1.4) than those with met expectations (9.5±0.8; P<.05).
• Patients expecting surgery who did not have expectations met rated physicians lower (9.0±1.3) than those whose surgical expectations were met (9.7±0.6; P<.05).
• No significant differences in ratings were found for increased unmet expectations, individual surgeon ratings, provider perceptions, or wait times.

Conclusions:

• Patient expectations for interventions, especially surgical recommendations, can significantly alter reported satisfaction.
• Unmet surgical expectations are a key factor in reduced patient satisfaction within orthopedic settings.
• Managing patient expectations is crucial for improving perceived quality of care in surgical specialty clinics.