BWH Celebrates Highest Patient Satisfaction Scores To-Date
On the heels of announcing four new customer-focused BW/F Service Excellence initiatives, the hospital achieved its highest overall score ever in the most recent patient satisfaction survey conducted by Press, Ganey Associates, Inc. (PGA). The feedback was collected from more than 2,000 patients whose hospital stay occurred from January to March 2003.
BWH’s overall mean score for the ninth round of results placed the hospital in the 79th percentile when compared to other academic medical centers with more than 500 beds. This marks an improvement from the hospital’s placement in the 69th percentile during the previous quarter (October to December 2002). In addition, BWH continues to realize high response rates—37 percent of medical/surgical inpatients and more than 35 percent of obstetrics patients voluntarily completed this survey.
“This is the best performance we have seen to date, both for the overall survey score as well as the individual section scores,” said Michael Gustafson, MD, MBA, executive director, Center for Clinical Excellence, who also explained that there is still room for improvement in the area of admissions. “BWH continues to see consistent progress across the board, which is a tremendous accomplishment.”
Dimensions targeted for broader improvement, including admissions, discharge, visitors and family interactions, and attention to personalissues, will be directly addressed through the new Service Excellence initiatives.
“This is truly something to celebrate,” added Robert Goldszer, MD, MBA, associate chief medical officer. “These numbers indicate that patient satisfaction at BWH is higher than ever, and as our Service Excellence projects gain momentum in the coming months, I am confident that we will continue to see our scores climb.”
The Center for Clinical Excellence is responsible for oversight of survey administration and result reporting. For more information, contact Gustafson via email at (mgustafson@partners.org). Directors and managers are encouraged to contact Drs. Gustafson or Goldszer for reports or other available tools to help enhance patient satisfaction in their areas.