Assessing Patient Satisfaction With the Discharge Process Through a Patient-Centered Lens

Introduction The discharge process remains vital to ensuring patient satisfaction and understanding. Patient satisfaction is an important metric in determining hospital quality and has a correlation with better outcomes. Understanding discharge instructions and patient-reported readiness can also help reduce readmission rates. This study assessed the quality of the discharge process at a tertiary health care institute by measuring participant satisfaction using a locally developed quantitative Likert scale survey and a qualitative survey regarding discharge ease and care team communication. Methods A survey questionnaire was designed independently to address provider communication and patients' understanding of discharge recommendations via a Likert scale. Both qualitative and quantitative questions were designed with guidance from previous studies in order to include components of successful discharge, including understanding of hospitalization reasons, follow-up appointments, medications, and overall discharge preparedness. Patients were recruited in a tertiary health care institute discharge lounge from the period of June 2023 to July 2023. The patient sample included adult patients who were waiting to be discharged in the lounge, excluding elective surgery admits or emergency room discharges. Data collection was performed by the authors of this study. Patient responses were analyzed for recurring themes regarding the stay and hospital discharge process, and statistical analysis was performed on quantitative data.  Results From June 2023 to July 2023, 78 patients were interviewed using both the quantitative and qualitative surveys. Overall, participant-reported satisfaction with hospital stay ranged from five to 10 out of 10, with 49 (62.8%) participants rating the quality of care of their visit a 10/10. Mean satisfaction overall was 9.44 ± 0.996. Two questions exhibited a significant association with the participants' overall quality rating of their stay: "I had adequate time talking to my physician" (p=0.031) and "I would return to this hospital for future healthcare needs" (p=0.01). No other questions were significantly associated with overall satisfaction. 55 (70.5%) participants reported having a primary care physician in the area, though this was not significantly associated with the level of agreement for any question. Qualitatively, some positive themes that emerged were the attentiveness of the care team and the efficiency of the discharge process. Some areas of improvement included logistical challenges in scheduling and ensuring bed availability, discharge procedures, and medication management, along with addressing issues related to inconsistent communication within the care team. Conclusions Overall, participant satisfaction with the discharge process was high, with decreased satisfaction for those who felt they did not have enough time with the physician. This idea is a clear starting point for producing a recommendation list, including items such as reducing wait times, enhancing patient-physician interaction, and standardizing institutional processes to boost patient satisfaction and post-discharge care quality. This recommendation list will encompass both quantitative and qualitative aspects, addressing various communication and logistical challenges to provide a holistic approach to improving the discharge process.