A Simple Analysis of the Data Aggregated by Survey Question and Time
Figures 1 and 2 show mean levels of response to each of the 13 questions in the survey over each month in 2005, and Figure 3 depicts the three questions whose mean response levels (over all 7 months) were highest and lowest, respectively. Several characteristics stand out. First, most questions evinced response rates of 90% or higher. However, several categories produced much higher mean satisfaction scores than did other categories. Response rates for Questions 1–3 were the lowest, carrying average values of approximately 9.3 to 9.4 on a 10-point scale. Concomitantly, Questions 5, 6, and 12 had the highest mean scores,with values of approximately 9.75 out of 10. Thus, on average, patients were marginally less satisfied
with the facility, parking availability, and patient registration process, and more satisfied with the skill and expertise of the staff, how thoroughly the medical condition was explained by the staff, and the overall level of care. In Donabedian’s (1980,1988) framework, these results imply that process-improvement initiatives should focus more on the structural and process components of quality, as opposed to the outcome components.