Background: Patient experience is a critical component of continuous quality improvement and value-based health-care delivery. This study aimed to identify a simple, cost-effective means of administering a validated patient experience survey in ambulatory-care settings.
Methods: Patients were randomly assigned to groups to complete the validated Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) clinician and group patient satisfaction survey using a Web-based platform. The response rate was assessed for in-clinic and e-mail distribution and was compared with the historical response rates. Patients were able to change groups after randomization to assess effect on response rate and potential bias. The cost of survey administration was compared.
Results: Of 132 participants, 87 completed surveys (65.9%), with no significant differences among distribution methods. Twenty-three participants self-selected the in-clinic survey after being randomized to the e-mail cohort. Survey responses were statistically significantly different in only three of 34 questions. Web-based survey administration costs two to four times less than standard mail, phone, and mixed-modal survey administration.
Conclusions: We recommend that ambulatory clinics use Web-based technology to administer CAHPS clinician and group surveys, using both e-mail and in-clinic distribution to enhance the response rate.