An Attempt on Model-making on the Structure of Patient Satisfaction in HCAHPS Databases

Abstract

　Publicly reported patient satisfaction with hospital care, Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey data in the USA, were analyzed to explore the structure of patient satisfaction for future modelling. Two firm groups were found despite hospital characteristics difference: a group of “communication with doctors,” “communication with nurses” and another group of “pain control” “overall rating” and “recommendation to others”. At the hospitals providing acute care, the first group included the latter group, and “staff responsiveness,” “quietness” and “explanation of medicine” exhibited another group with low appreciation. However, the results of correspondence analysis and multidimensional scaling indicated the dissimilarities of “quietness” and “explanation of medicine” to the other items by all the hospital characteristics. Environmental items, “Quietness” and “cleanliness” showed dissimilarities. Analysis focusing on similarities and dissimilarities is useful to make a more comprehensive approach to patient satisfaction in order to provide patient-centered care.