Survey finds patients want the truth
Disclosure empowers patients
Press, Ganey Associates in South Bend, IN, recently compiled data from 250,000 patients in 476 hospitals and found that the majority wants the cold, hard facts about life support and organ donation.
"When health care organizations share information regarding life support options and organ donations, what they are doing is admitting the possibility of an adverse outcome. While it was once believed that patients would cringe during a discussion relating to the possibility of mortality, the truth is that by doing this, health care organizations are creating a collaborative atmosphere that empowers the patient," says Irwin Press, PhD, president of Press, Ganey. "The results of this study clearly show that by bringing patients into the reality of health care, we’re serving and satisfying them — not intimidating them."
Given the option . . .
The survey questionnaire asked patients whether the hospital provided information on organ donation and on the choices available for continuing life. The survey found:
• 85% of patients who received information about life-continuation options were satisfied with their care provider, compared with 81% of patients who did not receive information about life continuation options.
• Nearly 86% of patients who received information about organ donation were satisfied with their care provider, compared with roughly 82% of patients who did not receive information about organ donation.
"When we look at the satisfaction of patients who tell us they received information of this sort, it is clear that their assessment of the health care experience does not diminish," Press says. "Instead, patients who report receiving information are significantly more satisfied than those who did not."
(Editor’s note: For additional information, visit Press, Ganey Associates’ Web site at this address: www.pressganey.com.)
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