Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #106653

Hediye Seval Akgün, MD, PhD, Public Health Department, Baskent University, School of Medicine, 12.street.7/9, Bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey, 00-90-312-2120434, sevala@baskent-ank.edu.tr and Gamze Günes, Quality speciali, Quality Department, Baskent University Hospitals Network, 12. street. 7/9 bahcelievler, Ankara, 06490, Turkey.

Patient satisfaction surveys are important data for researchers looking to the future. In Baskent University Hospitals Network, we adapt a questionnaire disclosing patient satisfaction by asking patients to grade the general quality of their stay/visits. Besides this, questions for specific aspects of the care or the stay; for instance, the access, the room, the meals, the waiting time, the examination time of the individual patient etc. are collected. These surveys have been carried out at various outpatient clinics, patients on their day of discharge from the hospitals, and fifteen days after discharge. Over 500 patients answer questionnaires in each survey cycle and in every three month. The implementation of the questionnaire is easy and apparently patients understand well and like it because it gives them the opportunity to make an appreciation without judging individual professionals. Analysis is made using a simple Excel spreadsheet on a monthly basis and graphs are used to show the trends. Statistical process control methods where used mainly to identify variations. The results of each are then compared to previous results. Then, departmental staff meetings take place in various settings, to discuss the results and future improvement actions to be taken. This systematic processing of data collected offers the opportunity to identify critical factors. It helps to monitor patient satisfaction, to identify variations and to respond quickly to variations whenever needed.

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