Patient Satisfaction Survey

The overall purpose of Arbor's Patient Expectation Project is to measure how closely people's experiences as patients met their expectations as customers.

The Patient Expectation Project will show how each department's patients answered each question with maximum statistical accuracy. This quantitative presentation will also include comparative benchmarking information with the same department at other hospitals.

In addition to statistically valid reporting, at the hospital-wide and service-specific levels, the Patient Expectation Project will also provide the actual comments, explanations or examples given by patients in response to open-ended follow-up questions throughout the survey. These verbatim messages directly from the patients leave no about what patients expect in order to be satisfied and how best to meet or exceed these expectations.

And with ArborOnLine, you can drill-down into the survey results for any question, pull up associated patient comments and even find out which hospital is the benchmark along with their contact information- all in near-real time.

The key to success: Nursing unit or department level reporting of accurate survey results and supporting patient comments - with statistically significant sample sizes - is only possible because the patient expectation project is conducted as a personal telephone interview with the patient themselves.

HCAHPS Integration: Arbor has been cooperating with CMS in the development of the "Hospital Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and Systems" (HCAHPS) survey and is fully capable of conducting its dry run and national implementation.

For proposal information please contact Arbor Associates, Inc. by calling 1-800-272-6795.

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The principal objective of the Employee Attitude Survey is to develop statistically valid baseline data on the morale, expectations and concerns of a hospital's employees. The analysis of the database will identify the key aspects of an employee's experience which are the best predictors of overall job satisfaction resulting in commitment to the hospital and willingness to recommend it to others as an employer of choice.

In essence, the project is designed to pinpoint specific positive elements which build employee commitment and to specifically identify negative elements which correlate with unhappiness or unwillingness to recommend the hospital as an employer. Efforts by hospital management to encourage positive elements and change negative ones can help employees' actual experiences meet their expectations to maximize productivity, quality of service delivery and reputation and to minimize turnover and absenteeism.

The Employee Attitude Survey can be conducted as a written, mail-in questionnaire, as a personal telephone interview or as a confidential online survey over any internet-connected computer.

And with ArborOnLine, you can drill-down into the survey results for any question, pull up associated employee comments and even find out which hospital is the benchmark along with their contact information.

For proposal information please contact Arbor Associates, Inc. by calling 1-800-272-6795.

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Arbor is experienced at designing and conducting note surveys of hospital medical staffs. Issues typically include the level to which services provided by the hospital meet, exceed or fall short of physicians' expectations. Areas surveyed include facilities, professional support staff, hospital-based physician services and administration. Occasionally, focus group discussions with doctors precede the design of the survey in order to seek input and secure participation. Frequently, representatives of the medical staff are involved along with administration in the design of the survey instrument.

The Medical Staff Satisfaction Survey can be conducted as a written, mail-in questionnaire, as a personal telephone interview or as a confidential online survey over any internet-connected computer. Analysis and reporting is done with total anonymity.

And with ArborOnLine, you can drill-down into the survey results for any question, pull up associated physician comments.

For proposal information please contact Arbor Associates, Inc. by calling 1-800-272-6795.

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The value of community opinion research is well accepted in the health care field. There is little question of the need to keep abreast of attitudes and awareness concerning the hospital's competitive position and to anticipate response to its initiatives. Arbor recommends that a Community Attitude Survey of the attitudes and awareness of the population served by the hospital be conducted in order to compile a database which will permit valid statistical analysis. In this type of opinion research, the foundation of a valid database is random sampling. The inherent bias of a written, mail-back questionnaire disqualifies it for use in most cases. The most effective field research technique for a base-line study like this one is telephone surveying.

And with ArborOnLine, you can drill-down into the survey results for any question and pull up any associated comments.

For proposal information please contact Arbor Associates, Inc. by calling 1-800-272-6795.

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Arbor Associates' market share studies support clients' planning processes by providing the most current share levels and trend analysis available. Findings are reported by product line as well as principal payment source.

Market Share by Community

By utilizing available statewide inpatient databases, the communities (zip codes) from which patients are admitted to the hospital can be identified. It is also possible to determine the number of patients discharged from other hospitals from each zip code. Analysis will performed at the DRG-specific level, including patients of all ages and payors. Results will be shown by DRG with aggregates by Major Diagnostic Category (MDC). The principal result of this analysis is to identify the hospital's market share in each community. However, rather than calculate the percentage of all discharges from the service area irrespective of diagnosis, the analysis will focus only on those DRGs treatable at the hospital. By so doing, a set of true market share figures can be calculated which reflect the competitive position of the hospital and its medical staff for those services which are actually provided. These figures will be undiluted by discharges for services not provided which may include open-heart surgery, organ transplant, etc.

Potential for Additional Discharges

A second result of the Analysis of Market Share is the identification of additional potential discharges. These figures result from subtracting the number of discharges the hospital recorded for each treatable DRG from the total number of discharges for that DRG in the service area. These discharges represent potential additional patients which the medical staff and the hospital are already prepared to treat.

Potential for New Services

A third result of the Analysis of Market Share is to identify the DRGs not previously treated which have the highest potential volume and to rank them for possible development as new services.

Analysis by Payor

Finally, the analysis will permit a cross-reference of the data by principle payment source. This will result in a further prioritization among current and new lines of service according to those with the greatest potential volume and the best payor mix. Because the output of this part of the study is presented in terms which closely match certain physician specialties, it has direct application to the recruitment process as well. Possible enhancements to the Analysis of Market Share include multi-year trend analysis and the identification of the market share and payor mix of competing hospitals.

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Focus groups consisting of six to eight participants, lasting approximately 90 minutes, can be convened for a variety of purposes. In-depth discussions can be directed at issues affecting patient satisfaction or at various internal and external marketing initiatives. Also, focus group guidance can be sought after a statistically-based survey has been done in order to clarify any ambiguous findings of critical importance. Arbor's focus group projects always include the labor-intensive activity of recruiting participants as well as conducting the discussions. Complete written reports will be prepared comparing findings across groups as well as detailing what took place at each group. An on-site presentation by the facilitator/report author is always included.

For proposal information please contact Arbor Associates, Inc. by calling 1-800-272-6795.

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Arbor Associates, Inc. has developed a market-based approach to medical staff planning. This technique will identify the number, location and type of physicians required to meet the needs of the residents of a hospital's service area. The need for primary care and specialty physicians is expressed in terms of the ability of the communities to generate sufficient office visit volume to support their practices.

Primary Care Physicians: Current and Projected

Successful recruitment and retention of primary care physicians to meet the needs of one or more communities depends on the ability of these communities to support their practices. This ability is best measured in terms of the office visit volume which each community can be expected to generate. Such a market-based approach to medical staff planning must also take into account the influence of the practices of existing physicians. Based on the location of all existing primary care physician offices, irrespective of hospital affiliation, a series of primary care service areas (PCSA) will be developed surrounding the hospital. These PCSAs will be designed to maximize patient convenience by minimizing travel time from home to the office location. For each PCSA, the model will define the geographic boundaries, the population, the number of primary care office visits and the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) primary care physicians which could be supported in the current year. Similar information will be produced for five years in the future. Projects will take possible reduction in FTE or retirement into account. In addition, for strategic planning purposes, the model will identify any potential new service areas not currently served by a primary care physician, specifying its geographic extent, population, and office visit demand.

Specialty Care Physicians: Current and Projected

The estimation of the number and variety of specialists which can be supported by the service area population is derived by similar market-based means. The approach is based on the assumption that specialists generally receive patients through referrals from primary care physicians.

Age/sex-specific office visit rates for each type of specialist are applied to the combined population served by the referring primary care physicians on the staff of the hospital. Alternative scenarios of medical staff composition will be prepared which reflect the strategic placement opportunities for primary care physicians identified in the first part of the study. The results will identify the number and type of physician specialists who can be supported by different degrees of aggressiveness in physician recruitment. Figures will be developed for the current population and for the population projected for five years in the future. In areas where significant increases in the elderly population (who require higher amounts of health care) are anticipated, the age-specific adjustments of this technique are particularly important.

Once complete, the Strategic Medical Staff Plan is intended as a guide for the current and future number, location, and type of physicians whose practices best meet the needs of the population. It can also be used as supportive material for recruitment efforts and as a strategic plan for expansion and/or protection of market share.

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