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WKU Researcher Uses Federal Hospital Survey Results to Measure Patient Satisfaction

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A Western Kentucky University researcher says hospitals now have more incentive than ever before to achieve patient satisfaction.

Neale Chumbler, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at WKU, says a federal survey of hospital patients is creating a comparison of care providers across the country.

The survey’s official name is Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. Its goal is to measure patients’ perspectives on the care they’ve received.

Chumbler says the results are also being scrutinized by insurance companies.

“As a hospital CEO, whether you get more or less reimbursements through insurance, these types of results will bear a lot of important findings.”

Chumbler is the lead author of a new study based on findings from the survey.

Credit WKU
Neale Chumbler

His study discovered that older female patients are more satisfied with their hospital experiences than older men.

Both older women and men ranked communication issues as the most important aspect of their hospitalization.

“The most important correlate with hospital satisfaction was communication with doctors, followed next with communication with nurses, and responsiveness of hospital staff thirdly. This underscores the significance of how well nurses and physicians communicate with patients and how well responsive hospital staff are to patients’ needs,” Chumbler said.

The full journal article containing the study results is available here.

Kevin is the News Director at WKU Public Radio. He has been with the station since 1999, and was previously the Assistant News Director, and also served as local host of Morning Edition.
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