Some issues in the measurement of patient satisfaction with health care services
ResearchPublished 1977
Reviews and summarizes findings from a study of numerous surveys to measure patient satisfaction with physicians and medical care services. The authors are critical of many common practices in scoring and interpreting data from such surveys. Specifically: (1) Patient satisfaction is not a unidimensional concept nor can it be adequately treated as a dichotomous variable. (2) Patient satisfaction cannot be reliably nor validly measured with the response to one questionnaire item. (3) Questions that focus on personal satisfaction need to be distinguished from those asking about care received by people in general. (4) The influence of preference and general sentiments on patient satisfaction ratings is not large enough to invalidate satisfaction surveys, and properly constructed surveys will give much information about process and outcomes of care as perceived by consumers. (5) Surveys that demonstrate overwhelming satisfaction with U.S. physicians and medical care are not being interpreted properly.
Document Details
- Copyright: RAND Corporation
- Availability: Available
- Year: 1977
- Print Format: Paperback
- Paperback Pages: 20
- Paperback Price: $20.00
- Document Number: P-6021
Citation
RAND Style Manual
Chicago Manual of Style
Ware, John E., Mary K. Snyder, and W. Redwood Wright, Some issues in the measurement of patient satisfaction with health care services, RAND Corporation, P-6021, 1977. As of September 5, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6021.html
Ware, John E., Mary K. Snyder, and W. Redwood Wright, Some issues in the measurement of patient satisfaction with health care services. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1977. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P6021.html. Also available in print form.
This publication is part of the RAND paper series. The paper series was a product of RAND from 1948 to 2003 that captured speeches, memorials, and derivative research, usually prepared on authors' own time and meant to be the scholarly or scientific contribution of individual authors to their professional fields. Papers were less formal than reports and did not require rigorous peer review.
This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.
RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.