As we move into the future, the measurement of patient satisfaction is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity for medical groups and facilities. It is increasingly important that a patient-satisfaction program be done well, using sound protocol and methods. Survey findings can also be used for accreditation and marketing. In this era of increasing competition and high patient demand for health care excellence, medical groups and skilled nursing facilities cannot afford to forgo the insights they can derive from patient-satisfaction surveys.

1. PATIENT SATISFACTION: THE INDISPENSABLE OUTCOME

2. why measure satisfaction when the health plans we contract with
already do it? How can we conduct a satisfaction survey that won't
disrupt office work flow? How do we translate satisfaction findings
into something that will make a difference?
Questions like these reflect just a few of the concerns that many
facilities have about measuring patient satisfaction. While most
large managed care organizations collect satisfaction data
continuously for purposes of accreditation and quality assurance,
the medical groups that contract with them often survey only
irregularly, if at all.
They often fail to realize the potential benefits of regular surveys. If
not already, then very soon, this will be an area of concern for
medical facilities as they are increasingly being held accountable for
the satisfaction data collected by MCOs they contract with. Groups
that do understand the advantages certainly face a number of
challenges.
Let's consider the growing importance of patient-satisfaction data
for nursing facilities, and look at some innovative approaches that
may help provider groups see satisfaction as a valuable
management tool.

3. THE MEASURING STICK
Patient-centered outcomes have taken center stage as the
primary means of measuring the effectiveness of health care
delivery. It is commonly acknowledged that patients' reports of
their health and quality of life, and their satisfaction with the
quality of care and services, are as important as many clinical
health measures.
Health care organizations and facilities are operating in an
extremely competitive environment, and patient satisfaction has
become key to gaining and maintaining market share. All major
players in the health care arena use satisfaction information
when making decisions. Also, because much satisfaction data
reflects care delivered by physician and other provider groups,
this information is receiving close attention from MCOs,
consumers, employers, and accrediting organizations.
The scrutiny is based on data collected by MCOs, which may or
may not accurately reflect the care delivered by individual
provider groups. This underscores the need for medical groups
to collect reliable and unbiased satisfaction information from
their own patients on an ongoing basis.

4. THE COST
The reality is that medical groups face a number of challenges
implementing patient-satisfaction survey programs. While most
large health plans have the resources to conduct surveys or to
hire vendors, measuring patient satisfaction can be costly for
small practice groups, especially in the face of shrinking
operating margins.
Provider groups and facilities often lack the expertise necessary
to plan and manage the task, and tight budgets may limit their
ability to outsource. Other challenges include ensuring that data
collection creates minimal hassle for practice staff, obtaining
acceptable response rates and reliable data, properly analyzing
and reporting survey findings, and translating findings into
information that can be used for program planning and quality-
improvement efforts. Recent technological advances provide
managers with solutions to many of the problems associated
with measuring satisfaction, including reliability and validity, use
of innovative data-gathering technologies, improvement in
measurement and statistical applications, and technologies that
simplify development of interesting and effective presentations
of survey findings.

5. PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEYING IS NOW A NECESSITY
Facilities are now recognizes the importance of objectivity in
satisfaction measurement and requires that satisfaction data
used for health plan accreditation purposes be collected by an
outside survey vendor.
Finally, an outside expert can be expected to employ rigorous
evaluation methods to ensure data quality and effective
reporting of satisfaction findings.
As we move into the future, the measurement of patient
satisfaction is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity
for medical groups and facilities. It is increasingly important that
a patient-satisfaction program be done well, using sound
protocol and methods.
Survey findings can also be used for accreditation and
marketing. In this era of increasing competition and high patient
demand for health care excellence, medical groups and skilled
nursing facilities cannot afford to forgo the insights they can
derive from patient-satisfaction surveys.

6. Care Analytics is a tablet-based software that assesses skilled nursing facilities and provides feedback to make quality
improvements for patient satisfaction in real time.
To advance the patient experience, providers must understand patient needs and address targeted opportunities within patient
populations. Care Analytics provides meaningful and actionable insights into every aspect of patient perception. We work with
facilities across the globe to collect feedback through real-time point of care tablet based assessments. We provide straight-forward
steps focusing on the key drivers of exceptional patient experiences. Our model is based on the marriage of big data and years of
experience with improving patient satisfaction
UNLEASH TARGETED INSIGHTS THROUGH ADVANCED ANALYTICS

7. CONTACT
US
www.careanalytics.net
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