Patient Satisfaction Surveys and Ratings

At Lake Region Healthcare (LRH), we want to put all the information you need to choose the right healthcare provider for you and your family right at your fingertips. We also believe that transparency is critical. To help you in your search, we have created transparent reporting to patients about our physicians. The information we are providing involves explaining patient satisfaction surveys and the various ways we deliver patient feedback to our physicians.

About our Patient Satisfaction Surveys

We partner with an independent patient satisfaction company, Press Ganey to help us measure various aspects of our patients’ experience. For more than 25 years, Press Ganey has been the industry’s recognized leader in healthcare patient satisfaction. Press Ganey works with more than 10,000 healthcare organizations nationwide, including 50% of all U.S. hospitals, to improve clinical and business outcomes.

Who receives the survey?

Patients treated by LRH physicians and Advanced Practice Professionals (such as Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants) in our clinics are randomly invited to complete surveys. Surveys are offered by mail or email and give patients an opportunity to provide feedback about their experience with their medical provider. Results are shared with departments and individual providers to identify opportunities to improve care.

What questions do we ask?

Patients are invited to complete surveys based upon their outpatient office visit. On behalf of LRH, Press Ganey administers the CAHPS® Surveys, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, for use in hospitals and medical practices across the country. These surveys ask patients or parents to evaluate how well their provider 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.

What do we do with the survey responses?

Survey ratings are shared on this website for the benefit of our patients and providers. Our providers also receive reports with their patient feedback directly on a regular basis and are asked to continually monitor the responses for improvement opportunities.

How is the physician’s patient satisfaction star rating created?

Star ratings posted on our website are extracted from surveys completed by patients who are seen by our primary care and specialty care providers in our clinics. The responses are based on patient responses to five questions asking them to rate the care from their provider on a scale of 1 to 5 in the following areas:

1. Concern the care provider showed for your questions or worries
2. Explanations the care provider gave you about your problem or condition
3. Care provider’s efforts to include you in decisions about your care
4. Care provider’s discussion of any proposed treatment (options, risks, benefits, etc.)
5. Likelihood of your recommending this care provider to others

For each provider, ratings from their patients are averaged together to form a single star rating.

Why don’t we post patient ratings and comments for every physician?

The more ratings a physician receives increases the accuracy and reliability of the results. A physician's rating will only be posted on the site providing he/she has a minimum of 30 completed surveys. For example, a doctor who primarily treats hospitalized patients and receives only seven surveys over the course of a year will not have a corresponding star rating displayed.

Due to the particularly sensitive nature of care provided by our behavioral health providers, we have elected not to include ratings or comments from patients for these providers. We also exclude emergency department providers due to the nature of these visits and the likelihood of several providers seeing one patient during the visit.

Can anyone complete a survey or post a comment about a physician?

No. Only patients who have received services at LRH may be selected to receive a survey. This way we can confirm the results are based entirely from patients who have actually been treated by the provider.