Patient Satisfaction Scores Are a Poor Metric of Orthopedic Care

Abstract

Patient satisfaction scores are a popular metric used to evaluate orthopedic care. There is little consistency with how satisfaction is described in the orthopedic literature. Online physician reviews are a growing trend that directly and indirectly affect a surgeon's reputation. There is little correlation of higher satisfaction with improved surgical outcomes, so rating surgical care may be misguided and possibly dangerous. Patient satisfaction is an important part of the patient-centered care model, so rating systems should directly reflect quality. More research is needed to determine the relationship between patient satisfaction and the delivery of quality care. [ Orthopedics . 2022;45(3):e127–e133.]

An Orthopedic Healthcare Facility Governance Assessed with a New Indicator System

“…Regarding the measurement of patient and medical staff satisfaction, we found that the periodicity of evaluations is established but their implementation deviates from planning. Like the study conducted by Murasko et al [ 55 ], the evaluation of orthopedic care is evaluated by the patient satisfaction score but the improvement measures formulated are not sufficiently visible to increase confidence in the evaluation system. In agreement with the findings of the study by de Klockmann et al [ 59 ], we noted that quantitative and qualitative self-assessment instruments of patients, staff, and organizational health literacy require improved access, easier integration, and navigation so that they better support organizational governance.…”

“…An important part of the patient-centered care model is the patient satisfaction evaluation mechanism. Murasko et al [ 55 ] show that a popular measure used to evaluate orthopedic care is the patient satisfaction score. For this reason, it is necessary to regularly measure the satisfaction of patients but also of the medical staff and for this, there must be a dedicated procedure.…”

Transcultural adaptation and validation of the Serbian version of Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Treatment Satisfaction—Patient Satisfaction (FACIT-TS-PS) questionnaire

“…Both care-related and non-service factors play a significant role in users' health care perception. Elements linked to care itself combined with those unrelated to the provision of services can have a substantial impact on how people perceive their overall experience of receiving medical care, even when the treatment's outcome is sufficient [3,4].…”