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Correlation of patient satisfaction with nurses' time spent at the bedside: A prospective observational study Abstract. Background: Patient satisfaction is of high importance in quality assurance in many hospitals. The existing shortage of nursing staff and the resulting additional workload for individual nurses reduce the time available for patient care. Aim: The aim of this study is to explore a possible relationship of patient satisfaction with the time spent by nurses at the bedside and the influence of other influencing predictors. Methods: In this observational study, nursing attendance time was collected using attendance records which were verified by digital call light logs, and then evaluated using a linear regression model including patient satisfaction. Results: The nursing attendance time showed no significant influence on "patient satisfaction" (p = 0.155). The most important variables influencing "patient satisfaction" were: "no previous hospital experience" (p = 0.001), "importance of care" (p < 0.001) and "Gender" (form male) (p = 0.001). Conclusions: The time spent by nurses at the patient's bedside is not considered decisive enough to have a clear positive influence on patient satisfaction. Adaptations in nursing care are recommended, which enable a holistic relationship building and goal-oriented nursing care that favours patient satisfaction.
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INTRODUCTION: Quality assessment from the patient's point of view makes it possible to identify negative quality developments at an early stage. The focus is not on the medical result, but on what the patient wants. Correlations between patient satisfaction and physical and psychological treatment outcome were already shown in the 1990s. However, studies using rather unspecific satisfaction measures are scarce. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of patient satisfaction with the treatment and the therapies offered on the extent of recovery. METHODS: In this prospective study, a questionnaire developed for the differentiated recording of patient satisfaction with the therapy offerings of the LWL-Klinik Dortmund was used in a day-care/hospital setting. The structure of the questionnaire was tested by means of explorative factor analysis. The factors generated in this way served as the basis for the hierarchical regression analyses in the further course. In addition to important treatment aspects from the patient's point of view, the subjective health status was recorded by means of SF-36. RESULTS: 105 patients participated in the study (64% female, 84% diagnosed with depression). Significant predictors for physical health were well-being after exercise therapy and satisfaction with the weekly structure of services. Significant predictors for mental health were age at onset of illness, age, perceived benefits from exercise therapy as well as occupational therapy, treatment duration and setting. DISCUSSION: The demonstrated impact of patient satisfaction on mental health highlights the relevance of treatment quality improvement to recovery.
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Mental Health , Patient Satisfaction , Humans , Female , Male , Inpatients , Prospective Studies , GermanyABSTRACT
Questionnaire on Treatment Satisfaction in Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (FBZ-KJP) - Results of a Swiss Pilot Study Abstract: Objectives: Patient satisfaction is an established indicator for medical interventions. Existing questionnaires for the assessment of patient satisfaction in child and adolescent psychiatry are too global to target quality improvement in child and adolescent psychiatric hospitals. The assessment of patient satisfaction in child and adolescent psychiatry is very challenging because specific demands (development status, role of parents in treatment) have been taken into account. Therefore, an expert team leaded by the Swiss Society of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry developed a targeted instrument to assess patient satisfaction in both language regions (i. e., German and French). Methods: The article reviews the development of a new child and adolescent psychiatric questionnaire for the assessment of patient satisfaction as well as the findings of a survey conducted in a representative sample of 174 patients and 145 parents in six hospitals. Results: The internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .93) is excellent. The questionnaire has high levels of both convergence and face validity, and the correlation with the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ-8) is ρ = .80 (patient-report) and .83 (parent-report). Furthermore, this questionnaire reveals the relative strengths and weaknesses of individual hospitals. The correlation between patient and parent assessment is, as expected, moderate (ρ = .29, for the total score and ρ = .39 for the CSQ-8). Conclusions: The Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire can be recommended to professionals as a standard for collecting data on client satisfaction within child and adolescent psychiatry.
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Adolescent Psychiatry , Inpatients , Adolescent , Humans , Child , Pilot Projects , Reproducibility of Results , Surveys and Questionnaires , Personal Satisfaction , PsychometricsABSTRACT
Trends in Adolescents' Satisfaction with Their Inpatient Psychiatric Treatment: A Panel Analysis over 7 Years Abstract. Because the German legislature is increasingly enabling adolescents' participation in their psychiatric treatment, we traced changes in satisfaction of 6,893 patients at the end of their stay in 10 hospitals using BEST-J. The treatments resulted in a fair overall satisfaction without any improvement over the 7 years studied. In seven hospitals, we calculated deviation from the overall satisfaction based on annual surveys. Satisfaction with the psychotherapeutic relationship was good from the beginning, whereas the relationship with caregivers improved during the sample period. When new legal standards were introduced, we measured an improvement in some items concerning patient participation (coercive measures information, goals of treatment discussed). Patients were less satisfied with the information about their illness than with medication information. Initially poor satisfaction with leave regulations significantly improved over time. Respect for privacy also improved. Satisfaction with the environment and service organization scored substantially worse than the other items. Peer relations within the ward were rated close to overall satisfaction. The results point to benefits from training in psychotherapy and a growing awareness of closeness-distance issues and patients' rights. Nevertheless, psychoeducation and leave regulations require improvement. Furthermore, patients stated unmet needs for refurbishing and renovating buildings.
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Inpatients , Patient Satisfaction , Humans , Adolescent , Inpatients/psychology , Psychotherapy , Psychotropic Drugs , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
What patients judge as important regarding nursing quality: Content analysis of patients' responses to an open-ended question within an online survey Abstract. Introduction: In a cross-sectional study with people insured by a health insurance company the association between the quality of care assessed by patients and nurse staffing in acute care hospitals has been investigated. A systematically developed online questionnaire registered the patients' assessments of nursing care, nursing behavior and nursing outcomes. The questionnaire included an open-ended question that was designed to supplement other important aspects where appropriate. Research question: Which aspects of the experienced care were particularly important for the patients but were -from their point of view- not yet covered by the questionnaire? Can additional indicators of care quality be derived? Method: Online survey following hospital discharge. Content analysis of the free text entries to the open-ended question. Results: A total of 212554 insured people were contacted; 30209 participated in the survey (14,2%) and 12507 (41,4%) of them answered to the open-ended question. A random selection of free text replies (n=2000) was finally coded and analyzed. Altogether, 45,1% of all codes covered the aspects of care quality included in the questionnaire. Of the remaining codes, 35,1% contained statements about non-nursing quality aspects of hospitalization and 19,8% contained statements about working conditions. No additional indicators of quality of care could be identified. Conclusion/Outlook: The statements about the working conditions will be explored in a further analysis. The expectations of patients towards nursing care need to be investigated in future studies.
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Nursing Care , Nursing Staff, Hospital , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Patient Satisfaction , Quality of Health Care , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Feedback from patients about aspects of rehabilitation services is increasingly provided online, for example, on specialized hospital comparison websites. Therefore, we examined which kind of online statements from rehabilitation patients published on the leading hospital comparison website "Klinikbewertungen.de" (KB) is associated with a positive recommendation of a rehabilitation clinic and which negative aspects are associated with a non-recommendation. METHODS: For eight indication groups stratified online statements of rehabilitants at KB were evaluated qualitatively using content analysis. The relationship between positive (negative) statements and the (non-) recommendation was examined. RESULTS: Content analysis of 911 experience reports revealed 20 categories. Most often, it was the "rehabilitation success" perceived by rehabilitation patients that was significantly associated with a recommendation or a non-recommendation of a hospital, and in five quality assurance (QA) comparison groups the category "catering" was associated with a positive or negative recommendation. In all QS comparison groups, there was an association with at least one of the following process-oriented rehabilitation categories: "rehabilitation measures", "rehabilitation plan and rehabilitation goals" and / or "diagnosis to discharge". DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Patient experiences with the perceived "rehabilitation success" and with the central processes of rehabilitation are particularly important for the recommendation or non-recommendation of a hospital for patients in all eight indication groups. On the basis of these results, rehabilitation hospitals can specifically identify the aspects of care that are important when patients recommend a hospital for rehabilitation. Online narratives of patients provide additional insights into the reasons for patients' satisfaction or dissatisfaction with their rehabilitation. These narratives are available to potential rehabilitation patients as a low-threshold source of information and decision-making aid.
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Medicine , Patient Satisfaction , Germany , Hospitals , Humans , Patient DischargeABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: User acceptance is a key indicator and driver for the use and implementation of telemonitoring applications (TMA) in healthcare. Despite various positive effects that previous studies have revealed for users of TMA, there are always patients who discontinue their participation in a telemedicine study or even decline participation. There is little evidence for the reasons for non-acceptance and non-use of TMA, especially in multimorbid patients at the age of 65 and over in their home environment. To close this research gap, this sub-study focuses on patient-reported reasons for non-acceptance and non-use of TMA in the home environment. METHODS: This study follows a mixed-method approach and focuses on patients' perspective. Quantitative data collection took place via computer-assisted telephone interviews among all drop-outs and non-participants. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews with drop-out patients and non-users. Eligible patients were recruited consecutively by general practitioners, informed and included in the study according to the inclusion criteria. Amongst others, patients measured their vital signs (blood pressure, heart frequency, oxygen saturation, weight) via telemedical measures and sent them via tablet to a Care Coordination Center to ascertain the need for intervention. Collected data on non-acceptance and non-use of TMA were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. RESULTS: Nine general practices in two German cities included a total of 177 patients according to the inclusion criteria. During the study, 61 study participants (34.5 %) dropped out, 80 patients (31.1 %) declined participation in the study. Drop-outs and non-participants were significantly older than active participants (p=.004 and p=.001, respectively). Predominant reasons for drop-out were the lack of the perceived added value and the content-related variety of the program on the patient's tablet, the missing interest/need for telemedical monitoring as well as the time spent participating in the study. Patients living alone, single and widowed patients reported significantly more difficulties in handling the hardware (tablet) (p=.040) and the program (Motiva) (p=.013) than married and cohabiting patients. These reasons were also reported mainly by female patients, patients aged 75 years and over, and those with a low level of education. CONCLUSION: In order to increase the acceptance and the added value of TMA for patients, the individual needs of the future target group should be analyzed at the beginning of the development. To ensure maximum user centricity, individual development steps should be continuously evaluated by the target group. TMA should be adapted to the functional abilities of elderly, multimorbid patients through, e. g., an appropriate design of the content, which is tailored to patients' individual needs. TMA should be used to an appropriate degree to avoid overburdening and should fit unobtrusively into patients' usual daily routine. For patient-specific acceptance of TMA, easy handling of the telemedical measuring and input devices is as important as the variety of offers on the platform and personal contact for technical queries. Special attention should be paid to patients who live alone, women, elderly patients over 75 years of age, and poorly educated patients in order to ensure full and easy access to technology-based telemonitoring for their own healthcare.
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Multimorbidity , Patient Acceptance of Health Care , Patient Dropouts , Telemedicine , Aged , Female , Germany , Humans , Male , Personal Health ServicesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although legally anchored, there are no empirical results from German second opinion programs. In this study, various aspects within a population of a second opinion program are examined. METHODS: In this study patients were analyzed who sought a second opinion in the period from August 2011 to December 2016. Differences in patient characteristics, differentiated by agreement of first and second opinion, were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Patients' satisfaction and quality of life were examined one, three and six months after obtaining the second opinion. RESULTS: In total, 1,414 patients sought a second opinion. Most frequently, second opinions were sought on knee (38.7 %), back (26.8 %), hip (11.7 %), and shoulder (10.2 %) complaints. Except for the indication (p=0.035), no patient characteristic had influence on the conformation of the second opinion. Approximately two out of three initial recommendations were not confirmed by the specialists. 89 % of the patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the second opinion and the service offered. CONCLUSIONS: The second opinion offers patients the opportunity to seek an additional independent medical opinion and thus provides support for decision making. Further research is needed to examine the reasons for the high discrepancies between the first and second opinions.
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Patient Satisfaction , Quality of Life , Referral and Consultation , Decision Making , Germany , HumansABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Previous surveys have shown that patient satisfaction varies with the regional supply of physicians. Online ratings on physician-rating websites represent a relatively new instrument to display patient satisfaction results. The aim of this study was (1) to assess the current state of online ratings for two medical disciplines (dermatologists and ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists), and (2) to analyze online derived patient satisfaction results according to the physician density in Germany. METHODS: We collected online ratings for 420 dermatologists and 450 ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialists on twelve German physician-rating websites. We analyzed the online ratings according to the physician density (low, medium, high physician density). For this purpose, we collected secondary data from both physician-rating websites and the regional associations of statutory health insurance physicians. Data analysis was performed using Median tests and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: In total, 10,239 online ratings for dermatologists and 8,168 online ratings for ENT specialists were analyzed. Almost all dermatologists (99.3 %) and ENT specialists (98.9 %) were listed on one of the physician-rating websites. A total of 93.5 % of all listed dermatologists and 96.9 % of ENT-specialists were rated on at least one of the physician-rating websites. Significant differences were found in the distribution (i.e., percentage of listed or rated physicians) of the ratings according to the regional physician density on only one physician-rating website (p<0.001). Furthermore, online ratings were shown to be better in regions with a higher physician density on two physician-rating website. On jameda.de, for example, dermatologist ratings were better in regions with a higher physician density compared to regions with a lower number of physicians (average rating: 2.16 vs. 2.67; p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Online ratings of dermatologists and ENT specialists hardly differ in terms of regional physician density. Physician-rating websites thus do not appear to be appropriate to mirror differences in the health service delivery structure. Our findings thus do not confirm the results from previously published studies.
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Patient Satisfaction , Physicians , Dermatology/standards , Germany , Humans , Internet , Physicians/standards , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: The integrated health care pilot model "Gesundes Kinzigtal" (GK) is recognized as a reference model for integrated healthcare in Germany. The aim of GK is to improve the health of the insured persons and, at the same time, to decrease their healthcare costs compared to usual care. The evaluation of GK has so far shown that GK might reach this aim. However, there are still no evaluation studies on GK focusing on patient-reported outcomes. This gap needs to be closed by a trend study, which is the main topic of this paper: We present interim results of this study, focusing on patient satisfaction with GK, insured persons' self-reported change of health behavior, their knowledge on health maintenance, and health-related quality of life. METHOD: The baseline survey of the trend study was conducted in 2013: 3,034 members of GK were invited to complete a standardized questionnaire (by mail). In the first follow-up survey in 2015, 3,471 members were invited. Health-related quality of life was measured by EQ-5D and EQ-VAS; the other above-mentioned indicators were developed by our work group. Conducting variance analysis and logistic regression analysis using SPSS, it was analyzed to what extent the above-mentioned indicators changed between the first and the second survey. RESULTS: The response rate was 23.4 % and 24.9 %, respectively. Overall patient satisfaction with GK and the mean EQ-5D value remained stable; the remaining indicators improved more or less over the course of time. Among these, the proportion of participants who indicated that they "now lead an overall healthier life" than before their enrolment into GK significantly increased from 25.6 % to 30.7 % (p=0.020). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The significant increase in the proportion of respondents who "now lead an overall healthier life" might be attributed to the fact that patient activation and empowerment was (and is) a top priority of the GK management strategy. Caution is advised, though, with this interpretation because of the limitations inherent to trend studies without an appropriate control group.
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Delivery of Health Care, Integrated , Patient Satisfaction , Quality of Life , Germany , Health Care Costs , Humans , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
Background: Patients with vulvar neoplasms report a lack of information, missing support in self-management and a gap in delivery of health care. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate if written information or counseling based on the WOMAN-PRO II program are able to improve patient satisfaction and the delivery of health care from the health professional's perspective of women with vulvar neoplasms. Method: Patient satisfaction and the delivery of health care have been investigated as two secondary outcomes in a multicenter randomized controlled parallel-group phase II study (Clinical Trial ID: NCT01986725). In total, 49 women, from four hospitals (CH, AUT), completed the questionnaire PACIC-S11 after written information (n = 13) and counseling (n = 36). The delivery of health care was evaluated by ten Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) by using the G-ACIC before and after implementing counseling based on the WOMAN-PRO II program. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups identified (p = 0.25). Only few aspects were rated highly by all women, such as the overall satisfaction (M = 80.3 %) and satisfaction with organization of care (M = 83.0 %). The evaluation of delivery of health care by APNs in women who received counseling improved significantly (p = 0.031). Conclusions: There are indications, that the practice of both interventions might have improved patient satisfaction and counseling the delivery of health care. The aspects that have been rated low in the PACIC-S11 and G-ACIC indicate possibilities to optimize the delivery of health care.
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Nurse-Patient Relations , Pamphlets , Patient Education as Topic , Patient Satisfaction , Quality Improvement , Vulvar Neoplasms/nursing , Adult , Advanced Practice Nursing , Aged , Delivery of Health Care , Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Outcome Assessment, Health Care , Self Care , Surveys and Questionnaires , SwitzerlandABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Mental disorders are common in family practice, but their meaning for variables of consultation is rarely considered. Thus, we examined the influence of mental disorders on patients' expectations regarding time, openness and seriousness as well as ratings of satisfaction with the consultation. METHODS: Prior to consultation for 219 patients a screening for anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-9) and hypochondriasis (WI-7) was performed. Before and after the consultation patient expectations and ratings were recorded. Subgroup analysis was based on Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Almost half of the sample were screen-positive. Prior the consultation, screen positive patients had higher ratings for expectations compared with screen negative patients, but did not differ in their experiences after the consultation. There was no association between consultation length and ratings for satisfaction. DISCUSSION: Patients screened positive for mental disorders do not necessarily require longer consultation length, if their expectations regarding openness and seriousness are met. This is underlines the importance of communication skills in undergraduate medical education and specialist training for future GPs.
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Anxiety Disorders/psychology , Appointments and Schedules , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Family Practice , Hypochondriasis/psychology , Patient Satisfaction , Physician-Patient Relations , Referral and Consultation , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Anxiety Disorders/diagnosis , Comorbidity , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Female , Germany , Humans , Hypochondriasis/diagnosis , Male , Mass Screening , Middle Aged , Surveys and Questionnaires , Time Factors , Young AdultABSTRACT
Patient satisfaction (PS) surveys are frequently used evaluation methods to show performance from the customer's view. This approach has some fundamental deficits, especially with respect to theory, methodology and usage. Because of the significant theoretical value of the expectation confirmation/disconfirmation concept in the development of PS, an expectation-based experience typology has been developed and tested to check whether this approach could be a theoretical and practical alternative to the survey of PS. Due to the mainly cognitive-rational process of comparison between expectations and expectation fulfilment, it is easier to make changes in this stage of the process than in the subsequent stage of the development of PS that is mainly based on emotional-affective processes. The paper contains a literature review of the common concept of PS and its causal and influencing factors. Based on the theoretical part of this study, an expectation-based experience typology was developed. In the next step, the typology was subjected to exploratory testing, based on two patient surveys. In some parts of the tested typology explorative differences could be found between hospitals. Despite this rather more complex and unusual approach to expectation-based experience typology, this concept offers the chance to change conditions not only retrospectively (based on data), but also in a prospective way in terms of a "management of expectations".
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Hospital Administration , Patient Satisfaction , Quality Assurance, Health Care/organization & administration , Total Quality Management/organization & administration , Female , Germany , Health Services Research/organization & administration , Humans , Male , Surveys and QuestionnairesABSTRACT
The increase in health care cost is broadly discussed in the public, either in the hospital or ambulatory setting. With the present study we compared the invoice amount generated by a first doctor's advice in the general practitioner to the one in the emergency room. In addition, we compared the diagnostic procedures used in the general practice to the one in the hospital, and whether the choice of diagnostic procedures would substantially influence the invoice amount. The invoice amount in the hospital setting was on average CHF 197.-, i. e. 134%, higher compared to the general practice. The difference in the invoice amount was largely explained by more diagnostic procedures in the hospital. Moreover, part of the higher invoice amount was generated by the extensive physical examination by doctors in the hospital.
L'augmentation des coûts en soins médicaux, en particulier en médecine ambulatoire, est largement discutée ces derniers temps. Au moyen d'une étude comparant les premières consultations au Service d'urgence interdisciplinaire (INO) de l'hôpital cantonal de Winterthur (KSW), respectivement du Service d'urgence des généralistes, nous avons éxaminé quels montants sont facturés lors d'une première consultation ambulatoire. En outre, nous avons comparé le traitement effectué par les généralistes à celui de l'hôpital et nous avons analysé si le choix du traitement influence le montant de la facture. Nos résultats ont démontré que le coût moyen du traitement par patient à l'hôpital était de CHF 197. (134%) supérieur à celui des généralistes. Cette différence des coûts a pu être expliquée en grande partie qu'au KSW plus de mesures diagnostiques furent prises. Les dépenses accrues ont été provoquées non seulement par les examens techniques, mais aussi par l'importance de la participation des médecins aux soins à en milieu hospitalier.