Patient contribution to the design and meaning of patient satisfaction for quality assurance purposes: the psychiatric case.

Given that patient satisfaction is a component of the quality of patient care, this study describes a procedure to develop and measure satisfaction directly from patients. This approach bypasses the inherent difficulty associated with the interpretation of results from generic surveys. To illustrate this procedure, an empirical study is reported, addressing perhaps the most difficult patient population to solicit as participants: psychiatric patients.

Improving the validity of measures of patient satisfaction with psychiatric care and treatment.

Surveys of consumer satisfaction with psychiatric services are frequently included in program evaluations, ostensibly providing the patient's perspective. However, the consistently high levels of satisfaction reported, despite a wide variety of measures, suggest that these surveys may be of questionable validity. Recognizing that most surveys ask patients to rate aspects of care that professionals feel are important, the authors used a focus-group method to generate attributes of ideal care from the patient's viewpoint. A pool of 50 patient-generated items were rated for importance by a second group of inpatients on locked units of a provincial psychiatric hospital. A factor analysis and mean importance ratings identified interpersonal relations with staff as a key factor of patient satisfaction. The authors designed a seven-item measure of satisfaction based on this key factor.

Marketing health services to elderly couples: aspects of marital role specialization in the decision process.

This paper examines the nature of mature market spousal role specialization for health services. The data show that spouses indicate similar role specialization and decision making when sampled independently. This information together with responses to qualitative variables help to develop suggestions for the marketing of health services to this segment. The data come from 57 couples over the age of 50.

Keep research reports from collecting dust. Cooperation leads to effective marketing data.

Formal mechanisms to enhance administrative decision making can ensure that market research reports do not end up collecting dust because they are incomprehensible, misdirected, or superficial. Cooperation and understanding between administrators and researchers lead to better decision making and long-term viability for healthcare organizations. Besides checking references before selecting a researcher, the administrator should conduct a "preproposal" discussion with the research candidates to determine their approach and diagnostic abilities. The administrator then should ask the researcher to present a brief preliminary proposal describing the problem and information needed to ensure that they are in tune with one another. With this in hand, the administrator can select a researcher. The formal research proposal has three functions: descriptive, quasi-contractual, and selling. Only after the research proposal is reviewed, modified, and cosigned should any research proceed. Market research is not a substitute but an aid for decision making. The report embodies the research findings that assist in administrative decision making. The report should be short, interesting, methodical, clear, comprehensive, and error free. Market research reports should include implementation recommendations to identify what needs to be done when, who is responsible, and, most important, how to measure the outcomes.

An approach to client satisfaction measurement as an attribute of health service quality.

Client satisfaction plays an important role in the assessment of health services quality used to establish institutional loyalty, usage patterns, word-of-mouth communications, and presumably to enhance the rate by which clients attain satisfactory levels of health. The makeup of attitude, its measurement, and a methodology for the production of a relevant health service-specific client satisfaction survey are presented.