patient satisfaction

For the first time, Medicare has released volume and payment information for a list of selected conditions, along with the results from its new consumer satisfaction survey, the Hospital Consumer... Read more...

A year ago, a coalition that included hospitals, health plans, physicians and consumer advocates launched a site designed to help consumers judge the quality of care at California hospitals. The... Read more...

It was kudos all around this week for the University of Kansas Hospital, which has gone from a state of financial and clinical crisis to being named as a top quality performer ranked with some of the... Read more...

Most patients are fairly satisfied with their home care agency's service, but agencies could improve their satisfaction if their home office did a better job of responding to patient requests and... Read more...

It's another prosperous year for a select group of medical practices and IPAs, that are getting $31 million in pay-for-performance bonuses this year from Blue Cross of California. This follows a 2006... Read more...

The California Department of Insurers is engaging in a unique project--it plans to begin issuing a "healthcare report card" on six of the state's largest PPOs. The new report cards will include... Read more...

In an era of emergency department overcrowding, it's certainly worth noting: Iowa hospitals offer the shortest emergency department visits in the United States.

Patient satisfaction research firm Press Ganey Associates, says the national average for emergency department visits is three hours and 42 minutes. In Iowa, however, the average visit is two hours and 18 minutes, shorter than …

... Read more...

The Colorado Hospital Association has announced that it will begin providing state-mandated hospital performance data on the Web later this year. The Colorado Hospital Report Card, which was ordered by the state's legislature, will report mortality rates, the number of procedures and several other patient safety measures. In the future, the report card will include clinical quality measures, patient satisfaction scores, efficiency measures and best practices data. The association already …

... Read more...

Hospitals have collected patient satisfaction for decades. But executives aren't always clear how to use this information to improve the care process. To leverage satisfaction data for quality care, facilities will need to let physicians know which satisfaction indicators are important--and give them specific feedback on how to get high ratings in those areas, experts say. Article

A new program is getting under way which will help primary care residents prepare to run practices that serve more effectively as a "personal medical home" for patients. The program is funded by a $1.7 million grant from the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors and the American Board of Family Medicine, in collaboration with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Fourteen family residency programs are taking part in the initiative, dubbed "Preparing the Personal …

... Read more...