Improving Patient Satisfaction of Pediatric Dietary Services

Publication Date

11-2003

Type of Culminating Activity

Thesis

Degree Title

Master of Health Science, Health Policy

Major Advisor

Jim Girvan

Advisor

Sarah E. Toevs

Advisor

Conrad Colby

Abstract

Hospitals often survey their patient populations in order to improve the quality of care they are giving. Patients base their choice of health care providers in part on the value the feel they receive from the persons or organizations giving the health care. As health care organizations continue to work on quality improvement and patient satisfaction they will look to improve many of the services they provide

One area that has been a focus for patient satisfaction in many facilities is dietary services. If patients are satisfied with the food service provided at a hospital, they are more likely to have overall favorable opinions regarding the organization.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate dietary improvement measures that have been implemented in the Pediatric Department at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The study demonstrated that changes in patient satisfaction results may be attributed with the improvement measures.

Surveys were conducted to establish a baseline. Subsequent surveys were also done after implementation of the improvement measures. The findings show that excellent scores related to overall satisfaction of dietary services rose from 23.7 percent at baseline to 41.9 percent six months after implementation. Similar findings were found in each of the subcategories of courtesy of servers, flavor of the food, temperature of the food, menu choices, and timeliness of delivery. Correlation was also conducted and was found significant at the .01 level between each sub category.

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