Otolaryngologists practicing in academic medical centers score lower than those practicing in a community setting on a number of key patient satisfaction measures, especially in categories that involve access and convenience, such as “promptness in returning phone calls” and “time spent waiting before going to an exam room,” according to an analysis of Press Ganey Medical Practice surveys completed by otolaryngology patients and published earlier this year (Laryngoscope. 2012;122(10):2304-2310).
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October 2012Despite this gap, academic otolaryngologists rated higher than those in community practice on questions relating to loyalty, such as confidence in the care provider and willingness to recommend the practice or care provider to others.
This study, the first to broadly quantify and assess patient satisfaction scores in the otolaryngology outpatient setting, as well as the first to explore the impact of the teaching setting on patient satisfaction with otolaryngology, has a clear message for otolaryngologists regardless of practice setting: “Physician behaviors were those most likely to correlate with whether or not a person decides to come back to a practice,” said Emily Boss, MD, MPH, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.