Patient satisfaction surpasses Air Force goal Published May 13, 2008 By 81st Medical Group 81st Medical Group KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- "My goal is to make Keesler Medical Center our patients' health-care provider of choice," said Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Doug Robb, 81st Medical Group commander. To attain this goal, the staff constantly reviews results of feedback tools, particularly the Service Delivery Assessment. The SDA is a customer service survey that allows the medical center to monitor customer satisfaction rates as they relate to Air Force goals. "Although Air Force standards are high, we strive to raise that bar daily," said Maj. Bradley Olsson, 81st MDG performance improvement and regulatory compliance department chief. "Patients expect prompt, courteous health care. Without this assessment, we have no way of gauging our success and, ultimately, the patients' success." The SDA provides feedback to the facility within a week of a patient's visit to any primary care clinic such as family practice, pediatrics, internal medicine and flight medicine; specialty-care clinics such as cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, dermatology, urgent care, optometry and general surgery clinic; or ancillary services, such as the pharmacy, laboratory and diagnostic imaging. Since response time is a priority with this assessment, the staff compares past data from Keesler Medical Center and all Air Force medical facilities. This allows the medical facility staff to see where improvements are necessary. Since patient privacy is a primary concern, those called can be confident that personal information available to the phone surveyors is extremely limited. They see a phone number and are only aware there was a patient visit to the medical center. The surveyor asks the patient several questions focusing on the visit to the particular clinic and to respond using a scale of 1-5 to rate the service. Questions include: How would you rate this clinic on the ease of making this appointment? How would you rate the courtesy and respect extended to you by the staff during your check-in to the clinic? How satisfied were you with the clinic overall, during this visit? How well did your provider and/or staff answer your questions about your medical condition and treatment? Ratings and comments are documented and sent directly to the medical center. "We document all responses, positive and negative, and the results are reported to General Robb," Cynde Adams, 81st MDG customer relations director, explained. "His personal attention ensures the level of care we provide meets or exceeds Air Force standards. He believes our customers' opinions of our service and facility reflect both on our efforts as well as their involvement. "Although customer relations fields patient concerns, I'm always pleased to forward favorable comments to our senior leadership," she added. Adams encourages anyone who believes his or her visit needs closer scrutiny to contact her at 376-3092, or stop by her office in Room BF403 in the medical center basement. Contented customers For the week ending May 2, about 93 people were surveyed at Keesler Medical Center for the Service Delivery Assessment. Numbers may vary per question. Overall satisfaction with visit? Air Force Goal: 95 percent Keesler: 96.8 percent Very unsatisfied -- 1.1 percent Unsatisfied -- 1.1 percent Neutral -- 1.1 percent Satisfied -- 55.9 percent Completely satisfied -- 40.9 percent How well did your provider and/or staff answer questions about your condition and treatment? Air Force Goal: 90 percent Keesler: 98.9 percent Very unsatisfied -- 0 percent Unsatisfied -- 0 percent Neutral -- 1.1 percent Satisfied -- 55.7 percent Completely satisfied -- 43.2 percent