Patient-driven? The influence of patient satisfaction scores on clinical decision-making

Patient satisfaction scores (PSSs) were first introduced to enhance patient experiences and health outcomes and offer a standardized platform to compare care across various facilities. These subjective assessments of patients' satisfaction with the healthcare they received have since been used to determine healthcare facility reimbursement. In recent years, healthcare administration has undergone a paradigm shift toward incentivizing higher PSSs for individual providers through compensation. This pilot study aims to evaluate this shift and investigate whether linking PSSs with provider compensation influences medical decision-making.

In this quantitative pilot study, a 14-item survey, consisting of 10 Likert scale and 4 demographic questions, was disseminated to medical providers working in an urgent care setting.

All survey respondents affirmed that PSSs were utilized by their employer, and 85% agreed they were tied to compensation. Seventy percent of respondents changed their initial treatment plan, and 65% stated they changed how they interacted with patients based on feedback from their PSS; however, only 15% agreed that the use of PSSs has improved their medical care.

Results from this pilot study indicate that the use of PSSs may have a negative impact on healthcare providers' medical decision-making. This could drive up healthcare costs and negatively affect patient outcomes due to factors such as overprescribing and excessive diagnostic testing. Further research is also needed regarding the use of PSSs as a metric factor in provider compensation and development of more equitable patient care evaluation surveys to encourage appropriate evidence-based medical decision-making.