Patient Guide to Patient Satisfaction Surveys and Ratings

At Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups, we value the partnerships we have with our patients and their loved ones. We are committed to providing you the information you need at your fingertips to make informed decisions about your health care, and about the physicians and other providers who walk the care journey with you. As part of that commitment, we now post our providers’ patient satisfaction ratings online.

To assist you, we’ve developed this guide to help patients, family members and those considering appointments with Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups providers understand how we capture and report our patient experience ratings.

About Our Survey
Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups is focused on providing an exceptional experience in every care interaction. All ratings are submitted by actual patients and verified by a leading company in the patient satisfaction industry. We measure all aspects of the patient experience and to ensure that we are holding ourselves to the highest standards, we partner with an independent patient satisfaction company, Press Ganey.

Who Receives the Survey?
The survey is emailed or mailed to a random selection of patients within a few days following their appointment. Patients are asked to complete the survey and provide comments regarding specific aspects of care. We use this feedback to improve and enhance the care we offer.

Do You Post All Comments?
Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups is committed to transparency. That means posting all relevant feedback – whether it’s positive or negative. However, we do not post comments that risk the privacy of our patients and/or could be interpreted to be profane, slanderous, libelous, or racist. All comments posted are not edited.

What Questions Do We Ask?
Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups utilize the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Clinician and Group Practice survey, which was developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for use in hospitals and medical practices across the country. The surveys ask patients to evaluate how well their physician communicated, listened, and showed courtesy and respect toward them. Results are used to evaluate patients’ overall perception of care and to identify areas for improvement.

We calculate our star ratings based on responses to the below questions from the CG-CAHPS survey.

Provider Assessment Questions
– Did this provider explain things in a way that was easy to understand?
– Did this provider listen carefully to you?
– Did this provider give you easy to understand instructions about taking care of these problems or concerns?
– Did this provider seem to know the important information about your medical history?
– Did this provider show respect for what you had to say?
– Did this provider spend enough time with you?

Why Don’t We See Patient Ratings and Comments for Every Provider?
Industry best practice is clear that more data provides a more accurate picture. That’s why we require a minimum of 30 completed patient surveys per provider before we post a rating. Over time, with more surveys received on an ongoing basis, the number of rated providers will increase.

A provider’s rating will only be posted on the site when he/she has a minimum of 30 completed surveys.

Additionally, Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups is implementing this tool in phases and all providers who conduct the patient surveys will be added over time.

Can anyone complete a survey or post a comment about a provider?
No. Only patients having an outpatient visit by a Palm Beach Health Network Physician Groups provider may be selected to receive a survey. The results are based entirely from patients who have actually been treated by the provider.

How is patient information protected?
Patient names are not displayed through the online ratings and commentary reviews.