Guide to Patient Satisfaction Surveys & Ratings
You have a choice in where you seek care, and Mercy works hard to provide patients with the information you need to find the right healthcare provider and be more involved with the decision-making process.
User-friendly star ratings can help you quickly assess the quality of care and other patients’ experiences with our providers.
For years, patient feedback has continually evolved our patient care. Now, we’re pleased to share this feedback so you have information at your fingertips, as well.
About the surveys
Mercy measures many aspects of our patients’ experiences by partnering with an independent patient satisfaction company, Press Ganey. For more than 25 years, Press Ganey has been the industry’s recognized leader in healthcare patient satisfaction. It works with more than 10,000 healthcare organizations nationwide, including 50% of all U.S. hospitals, to improve clinical and business outcomes.
Who receives the surveys?
Patients treated by healthcare providers (physician, physician assistants and nurse practitioners) at Mercy Medical Center and MercyCare Community Physicians clinics are invited to complete surveys. Surveys are offered by mail or email and give patients an opportunity to provide feedback about their visit, including their experience specifically with their provider. Results are shared with departments and individual providers.
What questions do you ask?
The surveys ask patients to evaluate how well their provider communicated, listened and showed courtesy and respect toward them. Results are used to evaluate patients’ overall perception of care and to identify areas for improvement.
How is the provider’s patient satisfaction star rating created?
Star ratings are based upon patient responses to provider-specific questions that measure:
- Explanations the care provider gave about the problem or condition
- Concern the care provider showed for your questions or worries
- Care provider’s efforts to include you in decisions about your care
- Care provider’s discussion of any proposed treatment (options, risks, benefits, etc.)
- Likelihood of your recommending this care provider to others
For each provider, ratings from their patients are averaged together to form a single star rating.
Are all comments posted?
Both positive and negative comments from the provider section of the surveys are posted. We do not post comments that are libelous, slanderous, profane, irrelevant or otherwise inappropriate or those that may risk the privacy of our patients.
Why don’t we see patient ratings and comments for every physician?
A greater number of ratings increases the accuracy and reliability of the results. Consequently, a provider’s rating will only be shown when he or she has received at least 30 completed surveys.
Providers in areas where patients are less likely to choose their provider (like the emergency room and hospitalists, for example) also will not have ratings posted.
In addition, a limited number of services within the hospital and clinics do not issue surveys. In those areas, providers would not have ratings posted.
Can anyone complete a survey or post a comment about a physician?
Only patients who have had an outpatient visit or hospitalization with a provider at Mercy Medical Center or MercyCare Community Physicians are selected to receive a survey. This ensures the results are entirely from patients who have been treated by the provider.
How is patient information protected?
Patient names are not displayed through the online ratings and commentary reviews. All personally identifiable information and protected health information is removed prior to display.
