Assess effect of Dynamic Real-Time Feedback apply on Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: Effective communication skills among healthcare providers significantly influence patient satisfaction, which in turn correlates with positive healthcare and financial outcomes. The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey is commonly used to assess patient satisfaction in the inpatient setting. This study aimed to assess the influence of providing real-time feedback to providers based on HCAHPS scores.

Methods: A randomized study was conducted . Over a 7-month period, 1110 patients were interviewed by a research assistant using three provider communication-specific questions from the HCAHPS survey. The intervention involved daily computer-generated emails to providers, highlighting their HCAHPS performance (specifically the proportions of "always" responses) compared to peers and Medicare benchmarks.

Results: The intervention and control groups, matched for baseline HCAHPS scores and clinical experience, showed a statistically significant increase in "always" responses related to provider communication in the intervention group compared to the control group (86% vs. 80.5%, p-value 0.00001). Notably, HCAHPS scores were generally lower in house-staff teams and higher in teams with APPs.

Conclusion: Providing real-time patient feedback to inpatient providers, coupled with peer comparisons via email, positively influences provider-specific HCAHPS scores.