xRead Article 1 - Electronic Consults in Otolaryngology

of the patient,

and provider,

provider and patient race,

24,25

5,26

medical understanding of patient, encounter location or setting.

farther distance traveled to receive care, The role of these factors on a patients

and

16,24,27,28

satisfaction is less clear in outpatient setting of otolaryngology clinics. The primary purpose of our study was to determine what patient- and encounter speci " c factors are associate with PGOMPS overall and provider-speci " c scores. Our null hypothesis was that patient-speci " c and encounter-speci " c factors are not signi " cantly correlated with PGOMPS overall and provider-speci " c scores. Methods This study was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board (IRB 00045048). Our institution uses the services of the Press Ganey Corporation to measure and assess patient satisfaction scores following outpatient clinic visits. Following each patient encounter, patients are contacted via e-mail and requested to complete the PGOMPS electronically. The survey is available for 30 days. Once completed, the Press Ganey Corporation uses private algorithms to generate a Total Score and Provider Sub-Score which are then reported back to our institution. These data were collected prospectively and analyzed retrospectively. The PGOMPS assesses a patient’s experience through 6 subdomains: access, care provider, moving through your visit, nurse or assistant, personal issues, and overall assessment totaling 25 questions. Survey questions are evaluated using a Likert scale from 1 (indicating very poor) to 5 (indicating very good). These responses are converted by the Press Ganey Corporation to a 0 to 100 point scale which are averaged to create an overall score (Total Score) and a mean score of each of the subdomains. Of note, mean scores are not normally distributed, with a signi " cant right-skew. For instance, in 2010 for the overall survey scores ranged from 78.9 to 74.5, and the median score of 90.5 was the 50th percentile for all clinics. All patient responses for all new otolaryngology outpatient visits that occurred between January 2014 and December 2018 at our tertiary academic institution with associated PGOMPS scores were included in this study. Clinics include general otolaryngology and all subspecialties apart from head and neck oncology and pediatric otolaryngology, both of which are located at a separate hospital. Both pediatric and adult patients were seen. Because of the large catchment of our academic medical center, we included patients from all states, however most patients reside in the Mountain West region. Only the " rst patient visit was included was included during the study period. 29