PATIENT SATISFACTION MEASURES AND THEIR IMPACT ON PATIENTS’ RATING OF A HOSPITAL

Leonard Branson
Mark Buxton
Hillary Fryman
University of Illinois Springfield
ABSTRACT
As healthcare costs continue to escalate and patients become increasingly aware of the quality of healthcare, patients’ satisfaction is growing in importance to health care providers due to the changes in the reimbursement of hospitals decreed by the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010. This research examines the relationship between the twenty-seven items on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey and patients’ overall satisfaction with a hospital. Nurse communication with patients and providing patients with information before they go home were found to have a significant impact on the overall hospital rating given by patients. It was also determined that hospital size as measured by total revenue had a significant impact on overall hospital rating.