Patient satisfaction is an important indicator of how patients feel about the care that they receive at a certain hospital and whether they are likely to come back to that hospital or to recommend it to friends or family members. A recent report suggests that patients were more satisfied with the care they received at hospitals in 2008 than in any of the previous six years.

The report that is based on a survey of about three million patients at 2,000 hospitals nationally concludes that 85% of patients reported that the care they have received was very good or good. The top five areas of importance for patients were:

1. Response to complaints and concerns during the hospital stay
2. Degree to which hospital staff address emotional needs
3. Staff efforts to include patients in treatment decisions
4. How well the nurses keep the patient informed
5. Promptness in responding to the patient’s pressing of call buttons.

The report also examined patient satisfaction by state. The top ten states in terms of best experiences of care included Maine, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Montana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Vermont, Indiana, and Mississippi.

Not surprisingly, patients who were admitted to the hospital through a regular doctor’s referral were more satisfied than those who were admitted through the emergency room. Emergency admissions are typically unexpected and more severe and are usually accompanied by long waits and uncertainty about recovery. Also not surprisingly, patients that were admitted for labor and delivery were the most satisfied, as this represents one of the few happy experiences that a patient might have during a hospital stay.

It is important to note that 2008 has marked the first time that patient satisfaction scores by hospital has been publicly reported on the web (to find out your hospital’s scores, go to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) website).