Responses to a nationwide survey show that inpatient family experience at pediatric hospitals across the country varies significantly. The survey, conducted by the Center of Excellence for Pediatric Quality Measurement at Boston Children's Hospital, includes responses from more than 17,000 parents whose children have been hospitalized.
The parents completed the survey from December 2012 to February 2014. The survey focused on 18 patient experience measures in the following categories:
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• Communication with the parent
• Communication with the child
• Attention to safety and comfort
• Hospital environment
• Overall experience during the hospital stay
Here are five survey insights:
1. Overall, the average hospital rating was 73 percent.
2. On average, the hospitals scored lowest on the "preventing mistakes and helping you report concerns" measure (55 percent).
3. The average hospital scores were highest for the "keeping you informed about your child's care in the emergency room" measure (84 percent).
4. There was wide variability among each of the 18 measures included in the survey. For example, here are four measures and their respective hospital score ranges:
• "Involving teens in their care:" 53 to 96 percent
• "How well doctors communicate with your child:" 55 to 91 percent
• "Communication about your child's medicines:" 70 to 96 percent
• "Paying attention to your child's pain:" 59 to 94 percent
5. Pediatric hospitals scored a little better than children's units in general hospitals.
"The fact that we see variation across participating hospitals, with some doing very well and some lagging, suggests that there is an opportunity to try to help hospitals improve and learn from each other how they can do better," said study senior author Mark Schuster, MD, PhD, chief of the general pediatrics division at Boston Children's and professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston.