Rethinking Satisfaction Surveys

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Abstract
The Minute Survey uses 2 questions to assess patient's satisfaction. The first question asks the patient to rate overall satisfaction with the care. The second question asks the patient to explain what worked well and what needed improvement. The Minute Survey reduces cost of conducting satisfaction surveys by (1) reducing cost of printing, (2) reducing cost of handling and mailing, (3) increasing response rate and thus reducing the need for follow-up reminder, and (4) by relying on time to dissatisfied patient as opposed to percent of dissatisfied patients. We report response rate of 34% to 77% to minute surveys. The combination of Minute Survey and analysis of time to dissatisfied patient may reduce the cost of conducting satisfaction surveys by 89% compared with Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey suggested for use by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.