Factors Impacting Patient Satisfaction at a Single Academic Sports Medicine Institution

Patient satisfaction has become an important metric in many healthcare settings, as it relates to patient outcomes and improvement in healthcare quality. The Press Ganey tool is a common assessment used to evaluate patient satisfaction. To our knowledge, there are no studies that effectively determine what influences a patient's healthcare experience in a sports medicine setting. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors impact Press Ganey patient satisfaction at a single, academic sports medicine institution.

Press Ganey surveys with questions about the provider, appointment date, sex, age, first visits vs. subsequent visits, and in-person vs. telehealth visits were utilized and emailed to patients within one week of their visit. Questions were rated on a Likert scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). Data from 2017 to 2022 were then aggregated retrospectively and de-identified. The 2022 Area Deprivation Index (ADI; higher scores indicate higher deprivation) was also used based on the patient's zip code. Statistical analysis with the use of a multivariate linear regression model was used to identify potential variables associated with patient-reported provider scores.

The study included data from 12,518 patient visits managed by eight sports medicine providers. Analysis revealed that age, appointment date (specifically the first visit), and the provider involved had statistically significant associations with Press Ganey satisfaction scores, with p-values of <0.001 for each factor. Age was positively correlated with satisfaction (coefficient = 0.160), indicating that older patients reported higher satisfaction levels compared to younger patients. Conversely, the appointment date, particularly at the initial visit, had a negative coefficient, demonstrating that patient satisfaction increased with subsequent visits. Additionally, when analyzing Press Ganey scores in relation to the ADI, it was found that patients with lower ADI scores, which indicate lower levels of social deprivation, reported higher satisfaction with their care providers.

Our study reveals that patient satisfaction seems to be affected by age, timing of visits, socioeconomic status, and provider at an academic sports medicine institution. While these factors may be somewhat unmodifiable, a better understanding of patient and provider characteristics can help maximize the patient's satisfaction with their healthcare.