Patient satisfaction vs. quality: The whys, hows, pros, and cons

There’s been a flood of different measures and metrics in recent years. CMS, Joint Commission, hospital organizations, and vendors each have their own way of calculating a hospital’s ranking and improving patient care.

While hospitals are already expected to conduct certain surveys by various agencies, how often should they conduct their own research? What measures should they use? And how do they use the information they have to drive improvement?

The difference between them
There are two definitions that are used often in conjunction with a hospital’s merit: patient satisfaction and quality of care. Patient satisfaction measures how a patient feels about the care they received. Care quality measures whether the care given was any good.

Janiece Gray, a founding partner of DTA Associates and author of the HCPro book Beyond CAHPS: A Guide to Achieving Patient- and Family-Centered Care, says that it’s important to know the differences between the two measures, as they aren’t always in alignment. She points to her experience with a former chiropractor as an example. She had been going to this person for about two years for a medical issue and from a satisfaction perspective, couldn’t have been happier. 

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