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Bolstering its ongoing efforts to use patients' feedback to improve operations and service, Stanford Hospital is implementing a new approach to improving the patient experience, using the National Research Corp./Picker patient-satisfaction survey tools.

Compared with previous survey tools, hospital officials say the survey developed by NRC/Picker provides more specific, useful information about how patients experience the hospital, what they like and where they see room for improvement. Results of the survey - which is mailed to patients who have been treated at Stanford Hospital & Clinics - will be shared with physicians and staff in the coming months.

"We're making this effort so we can provide excellent service to our patients," said Brenda Fischer, director of quality improvement. "We want to be well-known for service as well as excellent clinical quality." Fischer noted that improving the patient experience will not only mean happier patients, but will ultimately boost the hospital's reputation and market share.

The idea of surveying patients about their perceptions of the hospital isn't new - Stanford Hospital has been conducting patient-satisfaction surveys for years - but the NRC/Picker approach is a better, more scientific way to get that information, said Nick Gaich, vice president of material management and customer service.

"Our old survey was basically a rating tool - it told you if you were bad or good, but it didn't tell you why," Gaich said. "Now we're asking our patients about specific activities and behaviors we can measure and act on."

Instead of asking patients to rate the hospital's service as "excellent," "good," "fair" or "poor," the Picker survey asks about specific behaviors, such as "How many minutes did you usually wait before your call button was answered?" "Did a doctor or nurse tell you accurately how you would feel after the surgery?" or "Did staff talk in front of you as if you weren't there?" One section of the survey focuses on physicians, with such questions as "Did you have confidence in the doctors treating you?" and "When you had important questions to ask a doctor, did you get answers you could understand?"

To help implement this new approach, the hospital has formed an advisory team of physicians, nurses, administrators and other staff. After reviewing the responses to the NRC/Picker survey, the team will identify areas for improvement and develop plans to make changes where appropriate.

Fischer explained that using patients' feedback to improve service is a key aspect of the NRC/Picker initiative, but she also said strong emphasis will be placed on recognizing the hospital's strengths. "It's important to celebrate our successes," she said.

Chief of staff Larry Shuer said the survey effort is worthwhile because "the public perception of our hospital is extremely important. We truly want to be the place people choose to go for their hospital care." He noted that patient-satisfaction data is increasingly being sought and publicized to meet consumers' demands for quantifiable information on health-care quality.

While Stanford Hospital & Clinics has adopted the NRC/Picker surveys voluntarily, the federal government recently announced that starting in 2004, all hospitals must gather patient-satisfaction data using this approach, and the results will be publicly reported by the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In fact, hospitals' Medicare funding in the future may be linked to these performance measures.

"The good news is we've already been using this approach voluntarily," Fischer said, "so we'll be well-prepared when it becomes a requirement.."