Location Matters: Type of Hospital Unit Can Influence Medicine Patients' Satisfaction with Physician Communication. Am J Med Qual 2021 May-Jun 01;36(3):180-184
Date
05/05/2021Pubmed ID
33941722DOI
10.1097/01.JMQ.0000743672.47225.41Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85105247654 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)Abstract
Payors hold hospitals accountable for patient experience using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. The objective was to determine if hospital unit (medicine versus nonmedicine [ie, cardiology, oncology, urology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and surgery]) influences HCAHPS scores when care is given by the same providers on different units. This retrospective analysis of adult inpatient data (n = 845), included overall hospital satisfaction, staff communication, care and communication from physicians, and discharge communication. Average overall satisfaction was 8.9 out of 10 and length of stay was 4.6 days. Patients treated on nonmedicine units had higher overall satisfaction than those on medicine units (P = 0.02) and higher scores when asked how often doctors listened to the patient carefully (P = 0.002). The type of inpatient unit can influence overall satisfaction and satisfaction with physician communication. Differences in room environment, amenities, and staffing may explain why medicine patients were more satisfied on nonmedicine versus medicine units.
Author List
Dawson AZ, Segon A, Levine D, Nagavally S, Walker RJ, Egede LEAuthors
Aprill Z. Dawson PhD, MPH Associate Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinDouglas Levine MD Assistant Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultCommunication
Hospital Units
Humans
Patient Satisfaction
Physicians
Retrospective Studies
