Problems with patient satisfaction surveys and suggestions / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Contemporary management ideas and social movements have impelled governments and service providers to value healthcare consumers' opinions and experiences. Patient satisfaction surveys have been used as a routine tool to measure a hospital's service quality from the patient's angle and patients' fidelity towards service providers. Quality improvement measures and service development strategies are consequently formulated. However, there still exist many problems in the research on and use of satisfaction surveys as a measurement tool, including lack of strategies for scientific tool selection and development, lack of standardization and analysis benchmarking, emphasis on nursing service at the expense of a hospital's overall service quality, lack of psychological surveying and research on applicability and practicability, artificially introduced bias factors in conducting the surveys, oversimplified presentation of survey results, and limited use of information, It is suggested that guidelines for tool selection and development be formulated, regional or nationwide benchmarking be established, plan designs in conducting the surveys be perfected, presentation of survey results be improved, and rational use of information be promoted.