Gap widens in patient satisfaction study

Press Ganey released a patient satisfaction study that finds that the gap between the best performing hospitals and the worst performers in many measures of patient satisfaction is growing. At a time when many consumers are joining the consumer-driven healthcare revolution--or at least thinking more about their healthcare choices--this is, of course, noteworthy.

Here are a few interesting details drawn from the executive summary. Smaller facilities with 50 beds or less tend to have appreciably higher satisfaction scores than larger hospitals. OB/GYN departments had the highest satisfaction score, while GI and Psychiatry patients reported the lowest level of happiness (insert your own joke here). Intriguingly, men were markedly more satisfied than women with the quality of the care they received.

- check out the release from Press Ganey