nteucom
duke uniueusity mc6icM ccntcR
VOLUME 18, NUMBER 32
AUGUST 20, 1971
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Questionnaire Summary
What Do Our Patients Think of Duke?
Businessmen have a pretty good
method of evaluating a product's
popularity.
If consumers like it, they buy more; if
they don't, the product sits on the shelf.
Hospitals, though, can't measure their
success by the number of patients who
check in. People come to a hospital when
they're sick regardless of how they feel
about the hospital.
Last September, Duke began a
campaign to find out just what our
^patients like about this hospital and what
they don't like. A questionnaire,
"developed by the Public Relations Office
and distributed by the Business Office,
was given to each patient at the time of
discharge. The questionnaire asked for
comments on admission procedures,
room accommodations, professional
services, food services, visiting, discharge,
and billing.
Of the 4,000 questionnaires
distributed in the eight-month study,
some 484 were returned, a total of more
than 12 per cent. According to the
statisticians, that's a good response.
Of the questionnaires returned, 118
were from Durham residents, 243 from
North Carolina patients who live outside
Durham, and 123 from out-of-state
patients.
The questionnaires provided Duke
patients with a forum for their praise,
complaints, suggestions, and questions.
And they sent back plenty of each.
This issue of Intercom is devoted to
summarizing the results of the
questionnaires in each of the main areas
they covered. This is by no means a
comprehensive evaluation of Duke
^ospital, but the responses of some of
iur patients should give us a few clues
about what we are doing right and where
we need improvement.
A new survey using the same
questionnaire form was begun earlier this
summer. Intercom will publish those
results when they are compiled.
ADMITTING OFFICE
Nearly 90 per cent of the patients
noted that their admission was prompt.
About 9 per cent, though, had a
complaint about waiting for admission.
The other 1 per cent did not answer the
question. Those who commented had to
wait between 45 minutes and five hours
with average about two hours.
One fifth of the patients complaining
about admission waits said that their
admissions had been scheduled well ahead
of time and that they thought space had
been reserved for them. One patient from
Florida said he waited five hours for a
room which was supposed to have been
scheduled for him 10 days in advance.
(continued on page two)
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