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Patient Experience

Patient Guide to Patient Satisfaction Surveys and Ratings
At Deaconess, we believe in patient choice, and want to help you feel informed when choosing a physician. We also believe that transparency is critical.

With this in mind, we want to help patients—current and future—and their loved ones understand how we measure and evaluate the patient experience. Below are more details about patient experience surveys and what we do with the information we learn. 
 

About the Surveys

Deaconess measures many aspects of our patients’ experience. To ensure that we are holding ourselves to the highest standards, we partner with NRC Health, an independent patient experience company. NRC Health has been involved in healthcare surveys for 35 years, and works with 26 of the top 30 health systems in the U.S.   

Who receives surveys?
All patients who have received care at a Deaconess facility may receive a survey. 
Surveys are offered by phone, email or text message, and give patients an opportunity to provide feedback about their experience.

Each year more than 20% of our patients who receive a survey respond, which amounts to more than 108,000 patients offering feedback about their experiences.

What is the focus of the survey?
Patients are invited to complete surveys based upon their hospital stay or outpatient visit. The surveys ask patients or parents to evaluate how well their care team listened, communicated and showed courtesy and respect toward them. Results are used to evaluate care perceptions and to identify areas for improvement.

What do we do with the survey responses?
Survey ratings and patient comments are shared on deaconess.com for the benefit of our patients and physicians. Also, our physicians and departments receive their survey data results, and how they compare to peers, on a monthly basis. Deaconess has both inpatient and outpatient experience teams that review feedback, using data and comments as part of our improvement initiatives. 

How is the physician’s patient satisfaction star rating created?
Star ratings are based on patient survey responses related to their visit type. 

Deaconess Clinic providers are rated based upon these five questions: 
 
  1. Did the provider explain things in a way that you could understand?
  2. Did the provider listen carefully to you?
  3.  Overall rating of your experience at this office?
  4. Rating of provider 1-10 with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best possible
  5. How likely would you be to recommend this provider’s office?
Different surveys are sent to patients who receive care from other Deaconess services.  Star ratings for those services are determined based upon patients’ answers to the question, “How likely would you be to recommend this facility?”

Are all comments posted, and how is patient privacy protected?
We post both positive and negative comments from the surveys. We do not post comments that are profane, irrelevant, libelous, slanderous or otherwise inappropriate, or (due to too many personal details) may risk the privacy of our patients.

Patient names are not displayed through the on-line ratings and commentary reviews, and all personally identifiable information is removed prior to display.

While the comments are posted in an anonymous manner, we understand some patients may recognize their comment and desire for it to be removed from the website. Patients may request to remove a comment from their doctor’s profile by emailing patientexperience@deaconess.com 

Why don’t we see patient ratings and comments for every physician?
More ratings increase the accuracy and reliability of the results. A physician’s rating will only be posted on the site providing he/she has a minimum of 30 completed surveys.
 
 
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