Objective: Physicians are increasingly measured by patient’s perceptions of care and experience. Current measurement tools do not provide qualitative results of physician performance. This study validated the use of simple inquiry to provide a visual depiction based on patients describing their provider in a two-word comment.
Methods: Between 1/1/2015 and 12/31/2016, 95,571 patient surveys were completed following an outpatient visit, requesting “Please describe your physician in today’s visit in two words”. Survey respondent, word sentiments, and word cloud visual depictions were observed. Correlation analyses were completed to validate this measure with the existing Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Clinician & Group Survey (CG-CAHPS).
Results: 47,404 surveys included two-word data, assessing 716 physicians across 20 departments at a single institution. An average of 115.6 surveys were completed per physician. Survey respondents were more likely to be female (63.8%), Caucasian (77.2%), and younger than 65 (61.6%). Overall, physicians received (96.9%) positive comments. 77,966 individual words were examined within a word cloud imaging tool. A statistically significant positive correlation was found for total positive two-word comments and total top box scores (r=0.97, p<0.0001), while significant negative correlations were observed between negative word rates and corresponding top box percentile (r=-0.46, p<0.0001) and national percentile ranks (r=-0.35, p<0.0001).
Conclusion: The two-word inquiry shows significant correlations with CG-CAHPS scores. Thematic analysis of individual words provide interesting descriptions of providers (professional, knowledgeable, caring) and the practice environment (rushed, busy, hurried). This innovative method offers a promising way to capture patient’s perceptions for meaningful change.
