By Laura Frey, Administrative Clerk, Student Health Services
Student Health Services (SHS) has a full staff of providers including licensed/board certified physicians, nurse practitioners, psychiatrist, and physician assistants along with nurses, radiology, lab, and pharmacy staff. Last year, the clinic provided medical services to over 15,000 patients. To assess patient satisfaction with our services, surveys are conducted at least once a semester. These satisfaction surveys are used to address any issues and assess patient perceptions regarding the quality of care provided.
Method
The survey questions are determined by the Quality Improvement Committee, Executive Committee, and the SHS Student Health Advisory Board. Surveys are administered during a two-week time span. This semester, SHS used a new survey tool through Campus Labs Baseline. The survey has a total of 28 questions with pre-categorized options and open-ended comment boxes. Patients are asked at the time they check out from their appointment if they could take a moment to complete a survey regarding their visit. Surveys were conducted on a mini iPad provided by Student Affairs Information Technology. Questions include satisfaction ratings for providers and individual departments such as Pharmacy, Radiology, Lab, Student Insurance, Business Office, and Medical Records. The rating scale consisted of Very satisfied, Satisfied, Dissatisfied, Very dissatisfied, and Did not visit this department during today’s visit. Questions are also asked regarding satisfaction with the way students were respected in regards to age, race, ethnicity, and gender.
Students were able to leave comments on any questions they rated as dissatisfied, encouraging them to list why they marked dissatisfied and what SHS can do to improve the service. The survey concluded by asking students to provide any feedback they had regarding SHS or a specific staff member they would like to recognize for superior service. All answers are anonymous unless the student wishes to leave their name and contact information. Results are tabulated through Campus Labs Baseline and available to the administrator. Reports are then generated and shared with SHS supervisors and select committees.
Results
A total of 806 patients completed the satisfaction survey between March 24th and April 4th, 2014. Of those patients, 85% were repeat users of SHS services. When asked how they knew SHS was located inside of the Student Services Building, 37% looked online, 32% asked a friend, and 20% knew from being in the building for another purpose. This is of interest to SHS as there is no signage on the outside of the building alerting students that SHS is located inside. Ninety-seven percent of respondents reported they were satisfied with the convenience of filing an insurance claim, and 98% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the availability of convenient appointment times. Ninety-nine percent of patients felt that their personal values were respected by SHS staff and that they felt respected in regards to their race, age, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities/qualities, and/or sexual orientation. Between 99 and 100% of students were satisfied or very satisfied with the service they received from individual departments (see Table 1). Almost all patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the care received by the provider (see Table 2).
Over half (52%) of the students surveyed were seen the same day that their appointment was made, while 38% were seen by the following day. When asked to rate their overall satisfaction with SHS, 100% responded that they were satisfied or very satisfied. Several positive comments were left, expressing gratitude to providers and staff for the high quality of care and concern they were shown during their visit at SHS.
Discussion
SHS uses the results from the patient satisfaction survey in several ways. A summary of the overall results are shared with the Student Health Advisory Board. Individual staff members are recognized for outstanding service at the SHS in-service each semester for positive comments left in regards to the quality of care they provided. The results and comments are also used as part of the annual performance appraisal process. Any dissatisfied comments are used to address any trends/patterns. If a patient provides their name and contact information indicating they would like someone to contact them, an SHS administrator follows up with the student. The Executive Committee and Quality Improvement Committee evaluate these issues and take necessary steps in making improvements to provide better service.
In conclusion, SHS strives to provide Illinois State University students with high quality health care and insurance services provided by knowledgeable and caring staff. Patient satisfaction surveys is one way that SHS monitors user satisfaction to ensure we meet our goal of being viewed by the campus community as providing superior health care and insurance services to students enrolled at Illinois State University.
Table 1. Percent of Satisfied/Very satisfied responses for SHS individual departments
| Department | Percent |
| Laboratory | 99 |
| Radiology | 99 |
| Pharmacy | 100 |
| Business Office | 99 |
| Medical Records | 99 |
| Student Insurance | 99 |
Table 2. Percent of Satisfied/Very satisfied responses for SHS provider care
| Provider care | Percent |
| Listening and understanding skills of provider | 99 |
| Understanding of diagnosis and treatment plan provided | 99 |
| Explanation of any prescribed medication and side effects | 99 |