Hospital Renovation Has Little Effect on Patient Satisfaction

Hospital administrators should not use outdated facilities as an excuse for suboptimal satisfaction scores, as newly remodeled facilities have a modest impact on overall satisfaction.

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA) conducted a study to characterize changes in patient satisfaction that occurred when clinical services were relocated to a new building that highlighted patient-centered features. The study included all patients discharged from the 12 clinical units that relocated to the new clinical building who returned surveys. Patients who were interned in the unmoved clinical units who returned satisfaction surveys served as concurrent controls.

During the 7.5 month study period, a total of 5,663 patients were surveyed from both the baseline and control groups. The data were categorized into facility-related, non-facility-related, or overall satisfaction-related domains. Data were also adjusted for age, sex, length of stay, insurance type, and illness complexity to ensure results were not affected by those variables. Surveys for both the control group and the baseline group were returned at about the same rate pre- and post-move.

The results showed that the move was associated with improved room- and visitor-related satisfaction, without significant improvement in satisfaction with clinical providers and ancillary staff. Only one of four measures of overall satisfaction improved, with the most prominent increase being pleasantness of décor and visitor accommodation and comfort. In all, the patients responded positively to pleasing surroundings and comfort, but were able to discriminate their experiences with the hospital environment from those with physicians and nurses. The study was published in the March 2015 issue of Journal of Hospital Medicine.

“Hospital leaders will have to stop blaming poor patient satisfaction scores on aging buildings and units. Patients are able distinguish the quality of care they get from doctors, nurses, housekeeping, and other support services from the look and feel of where they are receiving the care,” said lead author Zishan Siddiqui, MD. “As an alternative, priority projects should also include a focus on training providers on personalized care, educating patients, and involving families in care decisions.”

There is a growing trend toward patient-centered design, which includes incorporating features such as well-lit private suites, sound-reduction paneling, appealing art, healing gardens, water features, and sleeping accommodations for family members. An estimated USD 200 billion is being spent on hospital construction and renovation in the United States, and developers anticipate further expenditures.

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Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine