• Gaurav Banka, Sarah Edgington, Namgyal Kyulo, Tony Padilla, Virgie Mosley, Nasim Afsarmanesh, Gregg C Fonarow, and Michael K Ong.
• UCLA Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California.
• J Hosp Med. 2015 Aug 1; 10 (8): 497-502.

BackgroundPatient satisfaction has been associated with improved outcomes and become a focus of reimbursement.ObjectiveEvaluate an intervention to improve patient satisfaction.DesignNonrandomized, pre-post study that took place from 2011 to 2012.SettingLarge tertiary academic medical center.ParticipantsInternal medicine (IM) resident physicians, non-IM resident physicians, and adult patients of the resident physicians.InterventionIM resident physicians were provided with patient satisfaction education through a conference, real-time individualized patient satisfaction score feedback, monthly recognition, and incentives for high patient-satisfaction scores.Main MeasuresPatient satisfaction on physician-related and overall satisfaction questions on the HCAHPS survey. We conducted a difference-in-differences regression analysis comparing IM and non-IM patient responses, adjusting for differences in patient characteristics.Key ResultsIn our regression analysis, the percentage of patients who responded positively to all 3 physician-related Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) questions increased by 8.1% in the IM and 1.5% in the control cohorts (absolute difference 6.6%, P = 0.04). The percentage of patients who would definitely recommend this hospital to friends and family increased by 7.1% in the IM and 1.5% in the control cohorts (absolute difference 5.6%, P = 0.02). The national average for the HCAHPS outcomes studied improved by no more than 3.1%.LimitationsThis study was nonrandomized and was conducted at a single site.ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the first intervention associated with a significant improvement in HCAHPS scores. This may serve as a model to increase patient satisfaction, hospital revenue, and train resident physicians.© 2015 Society of Hospital Medicine.

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