The patient satisfaction survey is an invaluable tool for physicians aiming to improve communication with their patients and engage them in their care. At Specialdocs, we encourage and work with our physician-clients to conduct ongoing surveys in order to regularly gauge patient likes and dislikes, and ask for improvement suggestions.

1. Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys5

2. It takes two to speak the truth —
one to speak and another to hear.
Henry David Thoreau

3. The patient satisfaction survey is an invaluable tool
for physicians aiming to improve communication
with their patients and engage them in their care.
WHY PATIENT
SATISFACTION SURVEYS?

4. During survey creation, consider these five best
practices, culled from more than 7 years of
conducting surveys for our ‘Special Docs’:
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys5

5. Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys5
1
KEEP SURVEY RESULTS ANONYMOUS
Patients are more likely to share their honest opinions when
they know their identities will remain confidential.

6. 5
2
LIMIT THE LENGTH OF THE SURVEY
Keep patients’ attention by creating a survey that takes no
longer than 5 minutes to complete.
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys

7. 5
3
SEND A REMINDER
If response rates are low, consider sending patients a brief
note encouraging them to take the survey.
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys

8. 5
4
LIMIT THE NUMBER OF REQUIRED
QUESTIONS
Leave it to the patient’s discretion to decide how
many questions he/she needs to answer. Too many
required questions could disrupt the flow and lessen
the response rate.
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys

9. 5
5
ORGANIZE THE SURVEY IN A
LOGICAL MANNER
Group questions that cover similar topics together to create
brief survey sections. Several sections defined by page
breaks can also make a longer survey seem more
manageable.
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys

10. For more tips on managing and marketing your
medical practice, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter
@specialdocs, like us on Facebook /specialdocs
or visit our website at www.specialdocs.com.
Best Practices
for Patient
Satisfaction Surveys5