Our patients expect more (and so do we): it's time to rethink patient satisfaction.

A current focus of healthcare organizations and legislation requires hospitals to place more importance on patient experience and satisfaction than ever before. Institutional patient satisfaction survey tools yield data that represent approximately 5% of patients and may not represent the typical patient experience. Moreover, our research demonstrates that only 1% of surveyed providers rely on these data as their primary source of patient satisfaction feedback. The low response rate, the delayed timing of the feedback and a lack of usability for clinicians raise questions about the value of these tools to front-line healthcare providers - those most responsible for the patients' experience of care.