Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Mar 24, 2020; 11(3): 136-142
Published online Mar 24, 2020. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v11.i3.136
What factors influence patient experience in orthopedic oncology office visits?
Alan T Blank, Sara Shaw, Connor J Wakefield, Yue Zhang, Wei J Liu, Kevin B Jones, R Lor Randall
Alan T Blank, Connor J Wakefield, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Division of Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 61011, United States
Sara Shaw, Kevin B Jones, Department of Orthopedics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84122, United States
Yue Zhang, Department of Family & Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, United States
Wei J Liu, Scientific Computing and Image Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, United States
R Lor Randall, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California-Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA 95817, United States
Author contributions: All authors contributed to this research study; Blank AT contributed to critical revision of manuscript, performing procedures, conception and design, project supervision; Shaw S contributed to data collection, writing manuscript; Wakefield C contributed to analysis and interpretation of data, writing the manuscript; Zhang Y and Liu WJ contributed to analysis and interpretation of data; Jones KB and Randall RL contributed to critical revision of the manuscript, conception and design, project supervision.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the University of Utah Medical Center Institutional Review Board and Research Integrity and Compliance office.
Informed consent statement: Patients were not required to give informed consent to for this retrospective study since the analysis used anonymous clinical data that is obtained through routine clinical care.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflicts-of-interest related to this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Alan T Blank, MD, MSc, Assistant Professor, Attending Doctor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Division of Oncology, Rush University Medical Center, 1611 W Harrison St, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 61011, United States. alan.blank@rushortho.com
Received: August 21, 2019
Peer-review started: August 1, 2019
First decision: December 25, 2019
Revised: February 6, 2020
Accepted: February 8, 2020
Article in press: February 8, 2020
Published online: March 24, 2020
Processing time: 208 Days and 2.3 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Patient satisfaction and reported outcomes are becoming increasingly important in determining the efficacy of clinical care. To date no study has evaluated the patient experience in the orthopedic oncology outpatient setting to determine which factors of the encounter are priorities to the patient.

AIM

To evaluate what factors impact patient experience and report satisfaction in an outpatient orthopedic oncology clinic.

METHODS

Press Ganey® patient surveys from a single outpatient orthopedic oncology clinic at a tertiary care setting were prospectively collected per routine medical care. All orthopedic oncology patients who were seen in clinic and received electronic survey were included. All survey responses were submitted within one month of clinic appointment. IRB approval was obtained to retrospectively collect survey responses from 2015 to 2016. Basic demographic data along with survey category responses were collected and statistically analyzed.

RESULTS

One hundred sixty-two patient surveys were collected. Average patient age was 54.4 years (SD = 16.2 years) and were comprised of 51.2% female and 48.4% male. 64.2% of patients were from in-state. Out of state residents were more likely to recommend both the practice and attending physician. The likelihood to recommend attending physician was positively associated with MD friendliness/courtesy (OR = 14.4, 95%CI: 2.5-84.3), MD confidence (OR = 48.2, 95%CI: 6.2-376.5), MD instructions follow-up care (OR = 2.5, 95%CI: 0.4-17.4), and sensitivity to needs (OR = 16.1, 95%CI: 1-262.5). Clinic operations performed well in the categories of courtesy of staff (76%) and cleanliness (75%) and less well in ease of getting on the phone (49%), information about delays (36%), and wait time (37%).

CONCLUSION

Orthopedic specialties can utilize information from this study to improve care from the patient perspective. Future studies may be directed at how to improve these areas of care which are most valued by the patient.

Keywords: Press Ganey® survey; Orthopedic oncology; Outpatient clinic; Patient experience; Patient satisfaction; Patient reported outcomes

Core tip: Patient satisfaction and reported outcomes play a vital role in determining the efficacy of clinical care in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This study addressed factors of the outpatient orthopedic oncology clinic that were found to be important to the patient. Provider friendliness, confidence, and sensitivity to needs, as perceived from the patient, were all associated with increased likelihood of the patient to recommend the attending physician to others. The findings from this study can guide various outpatient oncology clinics on how to research and improve patient satisfaction and reported outcomes.