Does receiving a copy of correspondence improve patients’ satisfaction with their out-patient consultation?

Abstract

It is standard practice to write to a patient's general practitioner (GP) following an out-patients consultation. This study set out to assess whether sending a copy of this letter to the patient improves their satisfaction with the consultation. Two hundred patients were randomly assigned to receive or not to receive a copy of their GP letter. Their satisfaction was then assessed by means of a postal questionnaire. The two groups were compared to ensure that their was no significant difference between them with regard to any other aspect of their consultation. Those who did not receive a copy letter had a median overall satisfaction score of 7.75 whilst those who did had a median score of 9.0 (p = 0.014). The only other factors predictive of overall satisfaction were receiving an explanation of the problem and spending sufficient time with the doctor. Sending patients a copy of correspondence to their GP is one means of aiding communication and improving overall satisfaction.

Measuring patient assessments of the quality of outpatient care: a systematic review

“…Two studies (6%) applied a discrete choice conjoint analysis method to assess which aspects of outpatient care were most important to patients [40,48]. In most studies, the data were collected using a questionnaire ( n = 19, 54%) [5,24–26,28–30,33,34,40–45,48,49, 52,53]. The tools used for data collection were previously published, modified from previously used tools, or specifically developed for the study in question.…”

Patient access to medical records and healthcare outcomes: a systematic review

“…Eleven studies included primary outcomes related to satisfaction with various aspects of the patient experience, including care provided, 36 40 42 47 53 54 provider-patient communication, 18 information provided, 49 51 consultation, 55 and perceived quality of care. 39 In eight studies, no significant differences were found when patients were given access to their medical information via the internet, on a USB stick, or in paper form as compared to no access or access to general information only.…”

Smartphone capture of flexible laryngoscopy: Optics, subsite visualization, and patient satisfaction

“…We postulate that the observed increase in satisfaction is a result of the patients feeling more involved in their care and being allowed to spend additional time with their physician. Saunders et al showed that spending sufficient time with a clinician and receiving a copy of medical information were strong predictors of patient satisfaction …”