A Holistic Approach to Assess Patient Satisfaction and Experience at a Tertiary Gastrointestinal Surgery Center

Aims: To assess the patient experience and overall satisfaction using a holistic approach in patient with gastro-intestinal and hepato-pancreato-biliary diseases managed at tertiary care center.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted from January 2022 to December 2022 in a single unit of the Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery at G.B. Pant Hospital, New Delhi.

Methodology: A total of 216 patients participated in the feedback survey. The study design utilized a patient feedback questionnaire consisting of 20 multiple choice questions and two open ended questions. The Questionnaire was designed in a four point Likert scale format. Response to each question was scored from 1 to 4, score 1 being least satisfied and 4 for most satisfied and a cumulative score was then generated by adding scores of all the 20 questions (maximum score-80).

Results: A total of 216 patients participated in the feedback survey. Out of which 134 (62%) were female and 82 (38%) were male. The mean satisfaction score was 70.31(out of 80). The mean satisfaction score for males was 69.22 and for females 70.99, and the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.254). The satisfaction score was 69.17 for patients with malignant disease as compared to those who had benign diagnosis; 70.94 (p = 0.262). A total of 176 patients had highest satisfaction with the care and checkups done by the treating surgical team and the mean satisfaction score for this group was 74.2 compared to the group who scored less than 4; 53.1 ( p = 0.001). Similarly patients who were highly satisfied with the time given by the doctors and the behavior of the treating surgical team had significantly higher mean satisfaction score as compared to the patients who were less satisfied ( p = 0.001).

Conclusion: The clinical outcomes alone are not an indicator of patient’s experience during his or her hospital stay. Hence a well-designed feedback form including factors other than the clinical outcomes leads to a more complete assessment of patient satisfaction and experience.