How do your patients feel when they leave your office? What do they say about you? Do they intend to follow your medical advice? How can you find out?

We are proud to announce that the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP) has available a Patient Satisfaction Survey. This survey, 15 questions in length and offered in English and Spanish, will provide valuable insight into your patients' perceptions of your practice. The survey package includes instructions for implementing and conducting the survey in your practice.

Each of the following topics are covered by the survey and, in general, have been shown to relate to the outcome measures of patient satisfaction and compliance: 

• Patient's Perception of the Physician
• Patient's Perception of Physician Understanding
• Eliciting the Patient's Concerns
• Involving the Patient
• Interview Results
• Office Wait Time and Comfort Perceptions
• Office atmosphere
• Ease of Obtaining Appointment
• Access to Further Information/Test Results
• Overall Patient Satisfaction
• Intent to Comply with Medical Advice

The CAP Patient Satisfaction Survey features a reference sample database of thousands of patient responses. A minimum of 75 patient responses is necessary for statistical significance of the results. This report will contain the average score of the patients' responses in each of the areas as well as the average scores of the reference sample for comparison. Physicians may then determine if their average patient perceptions fell above or below the "norm" as defined by the reference sample.

CAP members involved in the testing of the survey say:

"It was reassuring to see that we are on the right track."

"The results confirm my concerns with front office staffing, attitudes, phone triage."

"The (response) comments were helpful. I appreciated the suggested reading list."

Don't YOU need this type of information to improve your practice? Call CAP Risk Management at 800-252-7706, extension 8644, for more information on this valuable practice resource or e-mail us at riskmanagement@CAPphysicians.com.