Learn the most effective patient satisfaction survey questions, and how to write and design a patient survey that gets completed and provides valuable insights.
March 6, 2024Patient satisfaction surveys can offer deep insights into patient experiences and expectations. Analyzing that data helps clinics identify strengths and areas for improvement, ensuring that patient care continually evolves to meet and exceed the needs of their patients.
In this article, we explore what to measure, which questions to include, and how to write and design an effective patient satisfaction survey.
Creating a patient satisfaction survey starts with being clear about what you're trying to measure.
In general, you can take two approaches:
The first approach is good for measuring NPS and general satisfaction, while the second approach is how you get insightful feedback for improvements.
We will give you a list of common questions and design tips later in the article.
Most of the healthcare practices we work with already have a CRM system. Consequently, the patient satisfaction surveys we help them design and send usually do not include questions about demographics.
However, if you do not have access to such data (or want to keep the survey anonymous), you’ll probably want to include some demographics-related questions at the beginning or the end of your survey.
With that context, let’s see the broad areas which most clinics will want to cover in their patient satisfaction surveys:
In most cases, you will want to have a mix of closed and open-ended questions in order to capture feedback in the proper context. Closed questions yield quantitative data that's easy to analyze, while open-ended questions offer qualitative insights into patient sentiments and experiences.
This balanced approach enables providers to quantify satisfaction levels and understand the reasons behind them, leading to more nuanced improvements in patient care.
Here is the list of seven best performing questions from our general satisfaction surveys. By ‘best performing’ we mean the questions that generate the most valuable insights:
1. On a scale from 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [ClinicName] to a friend or acquaintance?
A standard question, used to measure the NPS score and assign a numeric value to patient satisfaction.
2. The doctor provided all the information in an easily understandable manner. [on a 1-5 scale]
There can be a gap between what the doctors say and what the patient understands. That’s primarily because the doctors often use medical terms and lingo, and the patients are usually too afraid to ask for further explanation.
This question is designed to check if your patients ever run into those problems.
3. The staff treated me with courtesy and respect at all times. [on a 1-5 scale]
The way people treat us has a huge impact on our experience with a specific service, especially in a sensitive area like healthcare. If you want good patient reviews and word-of-mouth, it’s crucial to identify and fix any quality gaps in this area.
4. Why did you decide to choose [ClinicName]? [open ended question]
This question provides the clinic with better insights into why patients choose their clinic specifically. It can identify strengths you can use to improve your marketing messaging.
5. What is the most important factor when choosing a health care provider? [Open ended or multiple-choice question]
Different patients have different priorities. Instead of guessing, the clinics should be asking that directly.
6. If needed, would you visit [ClinicName] again? [Yes/No question]
Positive intentions around repeated visits are a sign of patient loyalty. However, this question has a deeper purpose.
One of the main features of our patient experience platform is the ability to build and send patient surveys via mobile channels.
If a patient answers with a ‘no,’ it means they had a negative experience. In this case, our platform sends out an instant alert, enabling healthcare providers to reach out and try to solve the problem before it's too late.
7. Did we meet your expectations? [on a 1-5 scale] or [open ended question]
Sometimes, a clinic might do a decent job overall, but the patient still leaves dissatisfied as their expectations have been different and/or unrealistic. This question aims to catch the mismatch between what the patient expected and what actually happened.
Naturally, the exact questions you should use will vary depending on what you want to measure.
InsiderCX users have seen most success creating patient satisfaction surveys that have 14 to 16 questions and take around 2 minutes to complete. The average completion rate sits at an impressive 85%.
Creating patient satisfaction surveys requires some attention to detail and a clear idea of what you want to measure. Here are some tips for creating surveys that will yield valuable, actionable insights.
A survey that's a breeze to complete is a survey that gets completed. Avoid lengthy questionnaires; instead, create concise surveys that zero in on the most critical aspects of the patient experience.
Furthermore, design your surveys with the user in mind: clear, simple, and straightforward. This will get you higher response rates and more reliable data, making your feedback loop both efficient and effective.
Here are some design tips to keep in mind:
When including demographic questions, consider adding them at the end of your survey. It keeps the focus squarely on the patient experience, with the added bonus of providing rich contextual data for subsequent analyses.
Simple and direct language eliminates confusion and ensures that patients can provide accurate feedback. Whenever possible, avoid using complex medical terminology or convoluted phrasing.
Closed-ended questions are essential for gathering quantifiable data that can be easily analyzed. These questions should be clear and offer specific response options. Examples include:
On the other hand, open-ended questions provide deeper insights into patient experiences and perceptions. These questions should encourage detailed responses:
Leading and biased questions can skew results and give an inaccurate picture of patient satisfaction.
These are the questions that suggest a particular answer or contain assumptions:
To get an objective response, your questions have to be neutral.
Tailoring questions to specific items — like process, doctor or service — ensures the patient feedback is relevant and actionable. For example, for patients who just had surgery, you could ask: "How would you rate the post-operative care you received?"
While you’re at it, avoid medical jargon to ensure that all patients understand your questions, regardless of their medical knowledge. For example:
Include questions that cover key aspects of care like treatment effectiveness, staff behavior, and facility conditions, e.g. "How would you rate the professionalism of the staff during your visit?"
Using consistent scales throughout the survey maintains clarity. Common rating scales include:
Consistency in scale types also helps in accurate data analysis and future comparison of patient responses across different questions and surveys.
InsiderCX enables clinics to deploy patient satisfaction surveys at scale. It comes with a suite of powerful features for survey automation, including:
The result is a seamless, integrated feedback loop that helps you track satisfaction and catch positive and negative trends in overall care quality.
Book a demo today to get a free pilot project and discover firsthand how we can automate quality control at your clinic.
InsiderCX Editorial Team This article was researched, written, polished, and published by the InsiderCX editorial team.Want data to improve patient experience & satisfaction?
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