SOA implements IDS patient satisfaction survey and analytics tool

Jun 6 2014

Sarasota Orthopedic Associates (SOA) has implemented a data gathering and analytics tool, as part of its quality initiative designed to improve knowledge of patient expectations and monitoring of SOA's service and care.

The technology, developed by IDS, a pioneer in healthcare IT, offers an all-in-one survey process for data collection, data compilation and real-time reporting. The patient satisfaction survey is the latest healthcare application developed by IDS and joins the company's suite of AbbaDox clinical reporting and workflow solutions in the cloud.

Although SOA did gather patient feedback previously, the manual process was "slow, labor-intensive and not technically sound," said CEO Doug Badertscher. "This really is a game changer. It allows us to identify processes that may not meet customer expectations. It also helps us understand what factors patients find important when defining quality in care and rating their overall experience."

Over 400 patients completed the questionnaire in the first month with the goal of obtaining at least 5,000 during the course of the year. That will provide a solid data pool for measurement and meaningful comparison. Feedback obtained in the first 30 days offered valuable insight into practice operations and allowed management to identify areas for improvement or procedural change, such as providing more detail on the billing statement about treatment delivered.

Badertscher uses the analytical reports to help physicians and staff recognize how their actions affect customer satisfaction. Over time, an outstanding score card can serve as a visiting card when marketing to referring centers. Plus, patients are more likely to refer their friends and family members if they have a positive experience.

"It's important we develop applications that help providers better communicate and connect with their patients and ease the transition to a quality of care focus," said IDS CEO Yaniv Dagan. "From a well-designed survey to automating alerts for negative feedback, we're delighted to see what a strong impact actionable data has on aligning SOA's objectives with patient needs," he said.