A study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine found no association between receiving painkillers and Press Ganey patient satisfaction ratings.
Researchers analyzed more than 4,700 Press Ganey patient satisfaction surveys from two academic, urban emergency departments from Oct. 2009 to Sept. 2011.
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They found 48.5 percent of surveyed patients received analgesic medications, and 29.6 percent of surveyed patients received opioid analgesics. The mean overall patient satisfaction scores for patients receiving either form of painkillers were lower than the scores for patients who did not receive any form of painkiller.
Researchers suggest factors other than painkillers may be more important to patient satisfaction.
"The lack of connection between painkillers and patient satisfaction is frankly the opposite of what we expected to find," said lead study author Tayler Schwartz of Alpert Medical School at Brown University in Providence, R.I., in a news release regarding the study. "Our research shows that emergency physicians can administer painkillers, including opiates, based on clinical and patient factors without concern for the effect on patient satisfaction scores."
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