Elk Regional Health Center has announced that patient satisfaction surveys are now being conducted via telephone for patients admitted to the hospital for inpatient care.
Patients treated on an outpatient basis will continue to receive paper surveys in the mail.
The new telephone surveys, which some patients began receiving on Feb. 6, are being conducted by HealthStream Research, an independent research firm based in Nashville, Tenn. To compile patient satisfaction data, HealthStream interviews a random sample of the patients treated at Elk Regional Health Center.
“Our partnership with HealthStream enables us to evaluate the patient experience on a day-to-day basis,” said Charlotte Floravit, the Director of Public Relations at Elk Regional. “The move to telephone surveys also allows us to address any negative experiences more quickly than the mail-based surveys we previously sent to our patients.”
Patients can expect to receive a telephone call approximately one week after they have been discharged. The telephone number for HealthStream Research will appear on caller ID as (301) 575-9366. That number is registered to the Baltimore, Md. area, where HealthStream’s executive interviewing center is located.
The survey takes less than eight minutes to complete. Patients will be asked questions on topics ranging from staff communication to the cleanliness and quietness of the hospital environment.
“Responses to these surveys are shared only with Elk Regional personnel for the purpose of improving the quality of care we provide,” Mrs. Floravit said. “Elk Regional will not be told which patients provided information for these surveys unless our patients specifically request that HealthStream reveal their names to us.”
At no time will personal information about Elk Regional’s patients, their medical status, or treatments be provided to HealthStream, Mrs. Floravit said. When the interview process is completed, patient lists are destroyed.
Questions about the process Elk Regional uses to monitor patient satisfaction may be directed to the Public Relations Department at (814) 788-8532 or (814) 788-8832.
HealthStream is a leading provider of learning and research solutions for the health care industry, transforming insight into action to deliver outcome-based results for health care organizations. Based in Nashville, Tenn., HealthStream helped approximately 1,100 health care organizations gain valuable insight about patient experiences. For more information, visit them online.
