Listening to Patients Makes Sense: Soliciting and Purposefully Addressing Written Patient Expectations at a Provider Visit Improve Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

Patient satisfaction is an important aspect of medical care. This study aimed to assess if patient satisfaction improved when patients shared their expectations with the provider in writing before a visit, and providers purposefully addressed those expectations during the visit. We gave 2 types of questionnaires to 343 patients: Version 1 asked for written expectations before the visit and assessed the visit quality after addressing those expectations, while Version 2 only evaluated the visit without soliciting expectations. Patient satisfaction and meeting expectations were measured on a 1-10 Likert-type scale. The grouped that shared written expectations before the visit (n = 169) showed a significantly higher patient satisfaction score (9.88) compared to the group without shared expectations (n = 136, score 9.43, P < .0001). Conveying written expectations to healthcare providers before the visit improved patient satisfaction, potentially enhancing compliance and overall medical outcomes.

Keywords: patient expectations; patient satisfaction; pediatrics; previsit questionnaire.

Figure 1.

Comparison of responses in meeting expectations and patient satisfaction. Patients, who conveyed their expectations and received directed counseling in response to those expectations (V1) had significantly higher scores in terms of meeting expectations and overall satisfaction compared to the group of patients, who did not have a chance to convey their expectations (V2) before the visit.

Figure 2.

Comparison of patient satisfaction in pediatric and adult clinics. In both pediatric and adult clinics there was a significant improvement in patient satisfaction scores for patients, who shared their expectations in writing before the visit (V1), compared to patients without this opportunity (V2). This improvement in patient satisfaction was more pronounced in adult clinics compared to pediatric clinics.

Figure 3.

Medical management aligned with patient expectations improves patient satisfaction. The flowchart demonstrates the downstream effect of conveying written expectations to the provider prior to the medical visit. Medical management that is aligned with patient expectations results in higher patient satisfaction, which improves the trust in the provider and the proposed medical care, leading to better compliance with the treatment plan, which in turn may result in more favorable clinical outcomes and reduced medical costs. PEACE, Patient Experience Aligned with Conveyed Expectations questionnaire.