Online patient feedback as a measure of quality in primary care: a multimethod study using correlation and qualitative analysis

Abstract

ObjectivesTo ascertain the relationship between online patient feedback and the General Practice Patient Survey (GPPS) and the Friends and Family Test (FFT). To consider the potential benefit it may add by describing the content of public reviews found on NHS Choices for all general practices in one Clinical Commissioning Group in England.DesignMultimethod study using correlation and thematic analysis.Setting1396 public online reviews and ratings on NHS Choices for all General Practices (n=70) in Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group in England.ResultsSignificant moderate correlations were found between the online patient feedback and the GPPS and the FFT. Three themes were developed through the qualitative analysis: (1) online feedback largely provides positive reinforcement for practice staff; (2) online feedback is used as a platform for suggesting service organisation and delivery improvements; (3) online feedback can be a source of insight into patients’ expectations of care. These themes illustrate the wide range of topics commented on by patients, including their medical care, relationships with various members of staff, practice facilities, amenities and services in primary care settings.ConclusionsThis multimethod study demonstrates that online feedback found on NHS Choices is significantly correlated with established measures of quality in primary care. This suggests it has a potential use in understanding patient experience and satisfaction, and a potential use in quality improvement and patient safety. The qualitative analysis shows that this form of feedback contains helpful information about patients’ experiences of general practice that provide insight into issues of quality and patient safety relevant to primary care. Health providers should offer patients multiple ways of offering feedback, including online, and should have systems in place to respond to and act on this feedback.

Learning from Online Voices: A Mixed Methods Approach to Explore Patient Online Reviews of Hospital Care in Portugal

“…Classical methods are usually constituted by a standardized set of questions about the care received from a specific provider (health unit or professional), such as face-to-face, digitized or telephone satisfaction surveys [27]. This form of feedback implies the nonvoluntary participation of the user, whose collaboration initiative comes from the health institution, which also has the responsibility of selecting the questions, mostly consisting of closed questions, and translating into a numerical result, as well as it is also the institution that determines the frequency with which it is applied [28].…”

“…The use of OCC has advantages compared to traditional measures, particularly: websites are easy to access and use [1,30] they are a form of information that promotes transparency, since data are made available online and are accessible to most people [28,31]; they are a real-time barometer of public opinion, in a context of rapid and constant change, and allow the identification of prominent issues [11,32]. They can be a substitute, instantaneous or almost in real time, for the analysis of the users' experience, with the possibility of using automated methodologies, which facilitate their analysis [31,33,34] and it is in this sense that the present study will seek to make a major contribution; they offer a convenient, safe, low-cost mechanism for organizations to hear users' voices [31,34], being an important means of alarm to signal the deterioration in the quality of care [16] or, on the other hand, to identify successful practices [31].…”

Translational health technology and system schemes: enhancing the dynamics of health informatics

“…Best practices must be implemented to ensure safety, obtain feedback at all levels of health care, and facilitate the effective use of such systems [84,85]. Besides various feedback channels, systems that provide just-in-time responses to the given feedback are essential [86,87]. To address the shortcomings identified, improving intensity in the form of well-functioning feedback and engagement systems deserves more attention in health policy and design of quality strategies.…”

Klinik-Weiterempfehlung bei Reha-Erfolg: Erfahrungsberichte von Rehabilitanden auf einer Klinik-Bewertungsplattform

“…Diese Ergebnisse und weitere werden den Rentenversicherungsträgern und Reha-Einrichtungen in vergleichenden Qualitätsberichten zum Anstoßen von Qualitätsverbesserung zur Verfügung gestellt [12]. In internationalen Studien konnte gezeigt werden, dass die in Online-Erfahrungsberichten von Patienten angewandten (Un-)Zufriedenheitskriterien und das häufig dargelegte Detailwissen gegenüber etablierten Patientenzufriedenheitsmessungen einen zusätzlichen Erkenntnisgewinn ermöglichen, der für das Nachvollziehen von patientenseitigen Qualitätsurteilen relevant sein kann [13,14]. Vor diesem Hintergrund erfolgte eine systematische Bestandsaufnahme der Rehabilitandenerfahrungsberichte (aggregiert nach acht indikationsbezogenen QS-Vergleichsgruppen der DRV: Orthopädie, Psychosomatik und Psychotherapie, Onkologie, Neurologie, Kardiologie, Innere Medizin, Pneumologie und Dermatologie, Gastroenterologie) auf dem führenden Bewertungsportal KB.…”