Press Ganey Results Are In- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
Press Ganey Results Are In- BWH Bulletin - For and about the People of Brigham and Women's Hospital
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June 8, 2001
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In This Issue:
A Snapshot of Partners Progress
Press Ganey Results Are In
BASE Aims to Boost Practice Efficiency
BWH 2001 Service Awards
BWH Welcomes State Representatives
Pike Notes
Who’s News
Patient Satisfaction at BWH
A Sampling of PGA Survey Questions
BWH recently received the first round of patient satisfaction results from its new survey vendor Press, Ganey Associates, Inc. (PGA). The data was collected from more than 1,800 of BWH’s inpatients from January to March 2001. BWH’s decision last year to switch from its former patient satisfaction survey vendor, the Picker Institute, to PGA was based on PGA’s ability to survey a greater number of inpatients, receive feedback in a more timely manner and to compare results with those of similar nationally recognized teaching medical centers. The survey process with PGA is also continuous (instead of cyclical), with both patient comments and ongoing performance scores available to clinical leaders, managers, and improvement teams on a monthly basis. With an impressive response rate (nearly 40% of those inpatients surveyed voluntarily completed and returned the survey) and helpful benchmarking data, BWH is prepared to continue to work to improve patient satisfaction based on these ongoing results. “We found that patients were eager to provide us with their feedback, especially when their hospital experience was fresh in their minds,” said Paula Johnson, MD, director of Quality Management Services at BWH, who explained that PGA surveys are mailed to patients within one to two weeks of their hospital discharge. According to the survey, the hospital’s strengths lie in satisfaction with patients’ overall experience at BWH—a marker for high quality of care. According to Johnson, survey results reflect strong satisfaction with care delivered by nurses, physicians, and other providers. In addition, BWH scored highly on the question of whether patients would recommend BWH to family or friends. BWH results on this question were in the 96 percentile when benchmarked against other comparable teaching hospitals. “Even though BWH’s overall scores are quite positive, the survey results and comments highlight certain phases or aspects of hospitalization that could be targeted to improve the overall experience,” said Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, director of Performance Measurement and Analysis, Quality Management Services. Some opportunities for improvement as indicated by the survey results include:
Attention to Personal Issues and Needs
Discharge Process and Instructions
Pre-Admission and Admission
Wait time and Comfort During Tests/Treatments
Quality and Temperature of Meals Served
Several of these opportunities are parallel to those identified by Picker. However, “With PGA, we can better track whether targeted improvement initiatives are having desired effects, and can get much more timely feedback to staff,” said Gustafson, who explained that data has shown that institutions using PGA to track their progress do improve their Picker patient satisfaction scores over time. BWH’s commitment to patient satisfaction is carried out by it’s Patient Satisfaction Steering Committee, which is led by President Jeff Otten. As BWH continues to make enhancements based on survey results, the Massachusetts Health Quality Partnership (MHQP) plans for its fall 2002 public release of patient satisfaction data from hospitals across the state. The survey period for the 2002 public release will be during February and March 2002. Quality Management Services is responsible for oversight of survey administration and result reporting. For more information, contact G. Troy Tomilonus at ext. 2-8956 or Gustafson at ext. 2-8894.