Improving Patient Satisfaction in the Orthopaedic Trauma Population.

Objectives:

Patient satisfaction is a key determinant of quality of care and an important component of pay for performance metrics. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a simple intervention aimed to increase patients' understanding of their orthopaedic trauma surgeon and improve patient satisfaction with overall quality of inpatient care delivered by the attending surgeon.

Design:

Prospective quality improvement initiative utilizing a randomized intervention SETTING:: Level 1 Academic trauma center PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS:: 212 patients were eligible and 100 patients were randomized to the intervention group and 112 patients were randomized to the control group. Overall, 76 patients could be reached for follow-up satisfaction survey, including 34 patients in the intervention group and 42 patients in the control group.

Intervention:

Patients randomized to the intervention group received an attending biosketch card, which included a picture of the attending orthopaedic surgeon with a brief synopsis of his educational background, specialty, surgical interests, and research interests.

Main Outcome Measurements:

Our primary outcome measure was a patient satisfaction survey assessing patient rating of overall quality of inpatient care delivered by the attending surgeon.

Results:

Overall, 25 of 34 patients (74%) that received an attending biosketch card reported "excellent overall quality of doctor care," while only 22 of 42 patients in the control group (52%) reported "excellent overall quality of doctor care" (p=0.05). Age, gender, race, education, insurance status, primary injury type, and length of hospital stay were not significant with reference to "excellent" outcome.

Conclusions:

Clinically significant improvements in satisfaction with overall quality of inpatient care by the attending surgeon were identified in patients that received a biosketch card of his or her attending orthopaedic surgeon.

Level Of Evidence:

Therapeutic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.