Yesterday I saw my urologist, an annual follow-up. Been with the guy for three years. Very good doc, no issues. Then today, I got a robocall from the large, multi-site, multi-specialty practice the guy works for, inviting me to participate in some sort of survey concerning the visit. I deleted the call. I got a similar email from another giant practice another one of my docs works for last month, asking for similar survey participation. I deleted that as well. I am very uncomfortable with using McD's receipt-style surveys for evaluation of medical professions, but maybe it is just me?
As someone whose father, mother, mother-in-law, sister and wife have all had serious medical issues and hospital stays,
and as someone who has listened to his uncle and aunt with MDs discussing corporate medicine,
I can safely say that the corporatization of medicine is one of the most alarming things we are facing.
Quote from: kaysixteen on October 19, 2023, 06:20:52 PMYesterday I saw my urologist, an annual follow-up. Been with the guy for three years. Very good doc, no issues. Then today, I got a robocall from the large, multi-site, multi-specialty practice the guy works for, inviting me to participate in some sort of survey concerning the visit. I deleted the call. I got a similar email from another giant practice another one of my docs works for last month, asking for similar survey participation. I deleted that as well. I am very uncomfortable with using McD's receipt-style surveys for evaluation of medical professions, but maybe it is just me?
I've said that if places feel they
must have surveys, they should have two options for people;
- Numerical; like five stars
- Binary; "As expected" or "not as expected"
For many things, the latter one makes more sense. The only place where the "5 stars" type ratings make sense is in things allowing for lots of creativity, for instance meals in a fancy restaurant, where there are all kinds of
intangible ways things can be better or worse. Where everything is commoditized ,(which can be bad or good), then
"as expected" is completely satisfactory, and no-one expects more.
I tend to complete surveys--which reminds me that I was hoping to get a survey from the recent diagnostic appointment where the practitioner acted like a prison guard rather than a medical professional. As for my doctor's practice, I was happy to complete the survey for the latest visit because I was seen at short notice. I also completed the survey for the recent CPAP visit because despite the advances in technology I'm required to manually take the prescription for supplies to another floor to have it filled. The surveys are not just for my experience with the physician but also with the check-in process, the nurses, and the cleanliness/safety protocols.
I once helped organize a course on Survey Research Methods. I didn't teach it, but have had an abiding interest in the subject matter.
We looked at many existing surveys, of course. The medical satisfaction surveys we had were the most moronic -- clearly not written by medical people but rather by unschooled people wishing to know how you felt that day.
--Did the provider show concern for you problems?
What the hell should a patient care about the doc's innermost feeling? She or he is supposed to diagnose and if possible ameliorate.
Answering such surveys is a waste of time and possibly counterproductive.
My BIL famously got one of these after a stay in the ICU because of a car accident. His response to them was along the lines of "I was unconscious most of the time I was in the hospital. Given that I am now standing here, talking to you on the phone, I guess the hospital did an OK job!"
I wholeheartedly agree with wahoo wrt the dangers of increasing corporatization of American medicine. I am wondering what we can do about it, however?
This particular practice realllllyyyyy wants my feedback-- I got an email today reminding me of the survey and asking intently for my participation.
I confess to not being a fan of customer service surveys for any workers, but it seems that doing this for docs is not only deeply deprofessionalizing, but also more or less what dismalist says. And, of course, there would be the issue of the patient's possibly giving negative feedback because, well, the doc told him something medical that the patient just did not want to hear.
QuoteThis particular practice realllllyyyyy wants my feedback-- I got an email today reminding me of the survey and asking intently for my participation.
Well, K-16, if they
realllllyyyyy wanted your feedback, they'd pay you!
No, what's going on is that it costs them nothing to send out additional e-mails, so they do lots of that.
It also costs you nothing to press that marvelous "delete" button! :-)
I just say "I'm fine, doc is fine, everything is fine."
Quote from: kaysixteen on October 20, 2023, 04:57:19 PMI wholeheartedly agree with wahoo wrt the dangers of increasing corporatization of American medicine. I am wondering what we can do about it, however?
NRP has done a series on emergency room ownership and management.
ER using nurses rather than doctors (https://www.npr.org/2023/02/12/1156391891/hospitals-contracted-with-private-companies-are-cutting-costs-by-relying-on-nurs)
Private equity owns ER (//http://)
Patients Can Pay A High Price For ER Convenience (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2013/08/15/211411828/patients-can-pay-a-high-price-for-er-convenience)
A Private Equity-Owned Doctors' Group Sued Poor Patients Until It Came Under Scrutiny (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/11/27/783449133/a-private-equity-owned-doctors-group-sued-poor-patients-until-it-came-under-scru)
Why Emergency Room Visits Cost So Much (https://www.npr.org/2019/03/13/703012743/why-emergency-room-visits-cost-so-much)
And it goes on for quite a while.
And there are things like this: https://prospect.org/health/2023-07-31-my-life-in-corporate-medicine/
The first thing to do is to be informed, I think.
I don't do customer service surveys either, medical or otherwise. I find them intrusive and annoying, I don't trust their 'anonymity', and I have no confidence that they make any difference in actual practice whatsoever.
QuoteWhat the hell should a patient care about the doc's innermost feeling? She or he is supposed to diagnose and if possible ameliorate.
Answering such surveys is a waste of time and possibly counterproductive.
Don't student satisfaction surveys aka customer service surveys ask students about the innermost workings of professors' minds? As in "did you find your professor helpful?"