Data Collection in Patient Satisfaction Surveys             Quality improvement is a systematic strategy “to improve practices and processes within a specific organization” (Polit & Beck, 2017b, p.741). Many quality improvement studies, specifically patient satisfaction, are measured via surveys. A survey of four different tertiary care hospitals in four different countries found that various attributes and aspects of nursing care and easy access of care were the strongest drivers of patient satisfaction as a whole, as compared to physician relations, admission process and environmental cleanliness (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). Primary care settings may measure satisfaction through similar criteria. Various data collection aspects of patient satisfaction measurement from a suburban primary care setting population are the focus of this paper. Scenario and Survey Questions Employees of a suburban primary care clinic, seeing 10,000 patients annually are interested in patient satisfaction. The healthcare organization has chosen to implement a satisfaction survey focusing on the areas of ease of access, wait time, friendliness of staff, and likelihood of recommending the clinic to others. The following questions was chosen for the patient satisfaction survey in the primary care clinic             1. How satisfied were you with the ease of setting up an appointment?                                     1                          2                           3                              4                                             Very dissatisfied           Dissatisfied            Satisfied                 Very Satisfied                         2. How satisfied are you with obtaining answers to questions during off hours?                                     1                            2                            3                             4                                              Very dissatisfied         Dissatisfied                Satisfied                Very Satisfied             3. How satisfied are you with the wait time in the office before seeing your provider?                                     1                           2                               3                             4                                          Very Dissatisfied          Dissatisfied                 Satisfied                 Very Satisfied                    4. How satisfied are you with the attentiveness of the staff to your need?                                     1                            2                                   3                                   4                                                Very dissatisfied              Dissatisfied                  Satisfied                 Very Satisfied                5. How would you rate the ease of entry to our office (parking, location, hours)?                                     1                           2                                  .

1. Data Collection in Patient Satisfaction Surveys
Quality improvement is a systematic strategy “to
improve practices and processes within a specific organization”
(Polit & Beck, 2017b, p.741). Many quality improvement
studies, specifically patient satisfaction, are measured via
surveys. A survey of four different tertiary care hospitals in
four different countries found that various attributes and aspects
of nursing care and easy access of care were the strongest
drivers of patient satisfaction as a whole, as compared to
physician relations, admission process and environmental
cleanliness (Al-Abri & Al-Balushi, 2014). Primary care settings
may measure satisfaction through similar criteria. Various data
collection aspects of patient satisfaction measurement from a
suburban primary care setting population are the focus of this
paper.
Scenario and Survey Questions
Employees of a suburban primary care clinic, seeing 10,000
patients annually are interested in patient satisfaction. The
healthcare organization has chosen to implement a satisfaction
survey focusing on the areas of ease of access, wait time,
friendliness of staff, and likelihood of recommending the clinic
to others. The following questions was chosen for the patient
satisfaction survey in the primary care clinic
1. How satisfied were you with the ease of setting up an
appointment?
1 2

2. 3 4
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Satisfied Very Satisfied
2. How satisfied are you with obtaining answers to
questions during off hours?
1 2
3 4
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Satisfied Very Satisfied
3. How satisfied are you with the wait time in the office
before seeing your provider?
1 2
3 4
Very Dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Satisfied Very Satisfied

3. 4. How satisfied are you with the attentiveness of the
staff to your need?
1 2
3 4
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Satisfied Very Satisfied
5. How would you rate the ease of entry to our office
(parking, location, hours)?
1 2
3 4
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied
Satisfied Very Satisfied
6. Would you recommend our office to a friend or
family member?

4. 1 2
3 4
Probably not Not sure
Likely Very Likely
7. Age of the patient__________
8. Male/Female ___________
9. Name of Physician/Care
Provider______________________
10. Please indicate if you are a new patient or returning
patient___________

5. Comments:
Sample Size and Participant Selection
According to Polit and Beck (2017c), a representative
sample is one containing characteristics closely related to those
of the population. Since this is a quality improvement study and
a wide variety of patient opinion is requested, a consecutive
sample of 50 fully completed surveys per provider will be the
goal for this study (Ross, 2016, March 1). Users will be asked
to complete the paper and pencil survey upon check in to the
office for an appointment. Each participant’s name will be
entered into a drawing to win a $50 Visa gift card as an
incentive to complete the survey in its entirety.
Reliability and Validity
In a primary care setting multiple confounding variables
can affect the quality of study results. In this situation,
statistical control would be used to manage confounders such as
age, gender, time of care under specific physician, amid others
(Polit & Beck, 2017a). For example, one aged 20-29 years may
be visiting for a yearly physical or simply the flu and have few
if any complaints about the waiting room time or convenience
of the office. Whereas, someone aged 75+ years and
accompanied by a family member, who is taking diuretics and
has mobility issues might have difficulty waiting without the
need to access the restroom, or walking a great distance through
the parking lot to access the building itself.
Systematic bias involves an over or under
representation of a particular attribute related to the research
question (Polit & Beck, 2017c). For example, internet surveys
can be biased since some may not have access or have a comfort

6. in the use of a computer. Non-response or extreme response
biases are another trouble spot for self report studies. Having
patients complete the survey at the office will likely assure the
greatest number of responses. Social desirability response bias
is the tendency of individuals to misrepresent by answering
questions in accordance with publicly desirable responses (Polit
& Beck, 2017a). To ensure anonymity, patients will be provided
an envelope in which the survey can be placed, once completed,
and dropped into a survey box in the office lobby. No patient
identifiers will be placed on the questionnaire.
The tool’s reliability is achieved statistically by
measuring the number of questions addressing each criterion
(easy of access, wait time, friendliness of staff, and
recommendation to others). In a reliable survey, several
different questions would address ease of access. Several more
would address wait time. Each question would speak to a
different aspect of the criterion being measured. Consistent
patient responses to varying questions of the same area of
measurement are a reliable indicator of the survey’s strength
(U.S Department of Education, n.d).
Conclusion
Whilequality improvement projects are research-like
and not actual research, such endeavors are a necessary part of
health care organization survival (Polit and Beck, 2017d).
Patient satisfaction surveys identify areas to improve patient
outcomes and maintain customer loyalty. By taking action to
close gaps, patients breathe a bit easier knowing the customer’s
voice is being heard. Health care quality improvement
specialists adept at such skills can support the effort and
increase the implementation of evidenced based practice, for the
unending process of patient satisfaction.

7. References
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survey as a tool towards quality improvement. Oman Medical
Journal, 29(1), pp. 3–7. http://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2014.02
Merrill, K. (2015). Is this quality improvement or research?
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https://www.americannursetoday.com/quality-improvement-
research/
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017a). Data collection in
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research: Generating and assessing evidence for nursing
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Kluwer
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017b). Glossary. In Polit, D. F., &
Beck, C. T. Nursing research: Generating and assessing
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Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2017c). Sampling in quantitative
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practice (pp. 236-247). (10th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters
Kluwer
Ross, R. (2016, March 1). Determine provider-level sample
sizes for patient satisfaction surveys. Retrieved from
http://www.mgma.com/practice-resources/mgma-connection-
plus/mgma-connection/2016/march-2016/determine-
provider-level-sample-sizes-for- for- patient-
satisfaction-surveys
U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Judging the reliability of
a survey. Retrieved from
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