An ISO 10000-based Patient Satisfaction Framework

• Author / Creator

  Khan, Mohammad A

• Health care systems focus on fulfilling patient expectation and needs. However, the wide differences among various health care services make the understanding and use of patient satisfaction information challenging. Patient satisfaction can systematically be studied and analyzed through methods based on the ISO 10000 series of quality standards, a research area that is still unexplored. This research presents a study of three specific aspects of patient satisfaction through the application of ISO 10000 standards and various quality management principles and techniques. Unlike the traditional, provider-centered health care delivery systems, integrated health care, a relatively recent strategy, offers a patient-focused system that integrates the diverse resources and services with the objective of attaining a high quality of care and patient satisfaction. However, research on patient satisfaction in integrated care systems is still rare. The ISO 10000-based methods developed in this thesis address this void, demonstrating the focus on patient experience along the health care process. The thesis demonstrates a systematic construction of patient satisfaction promises, unsolicited handling of patient feedback and measurement of patient satisfaction by applying ISO 10001, 10002 and 10004, respectively. A promise and its supporting processes were designed, developed and implemented in the inpatients care of a Canadian hospital. The feedback-handling and patient satisfaction measurement systems were designed and developed by focusing on the Emergency Department (ED) and inpatients care continuum, which was assumed as an integrated care case. To design and develop the three components that this research focuses on, i.e., patient satisfaction promises, a feedback-handling system and a patient satisfaction measurement system, interviews with the research participants, which including health care professionals (e.g., nurses and unit managers) and feedback-handling experts involved in health care performance measurement, were performed. A promise was implemented in an inpatients care unit, including performance measurement processes with collection and use of solicited and unsolicited patient feedbacks using a patient survey and a feedback handling process, respectively. A feedback handling system was developed for the unit-level handling of feedbacks by focusing on the ED and inpatients care continuum. For the measurement of patient satisfaction, a survey encompassing patient experience along the continuum of care was developed and verified through interviews with the research participants. The survey also included items related to promise and feedback-handling system performances. Based on the results, the usefulness and applicability of the standardized systems were analyzed. The most significant contribution of this research comes from the connections demonstrated among promises, feedback-handling and patient satisfaction measurement, which helped in conceptualizing a patient satisfaction framework for integrated care. The use of ISO 10001 presented a fresh approach to the systematic design, development and implementation of promises in health care. The integrated application of the three ISO 10000 standards in health care is presented for the first time, the feasibility of the approach and synergy attained being evident in the work presented. Through the focus on a care continuum, the ISO 10002 and ISO 10004-based feedback-handling and patient satisfaction measurement systems enriched the research in integrated care. The research learning can not only be replicated in other health care areas, and but can also serve as a baseline in other industries and sectors in investigating customer satisfaction effectively and efficiently.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • ISO 10002
  • Inpatients care
  • ISO 10004
  • Patient satisfaction measurement
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Patient centered
  • Contunuum of care
  • Integrated care
  • Standards
  • ISO 10001
  • Promise
  • Feedback
  • Emergency Department

• Graduation date

  Spring 2016

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3KD1QW8V

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.