Essential Patient Satisfaction Survey Questions

Patient feedback helps doctors and medical professionals provide high-quality patient care and improve their practices and policies. Asking for patient feedback helps you understand how patients view your practice while showing them you are genuinely interested in their experience. The trick is finding a simple, effective way to collect patient feedback. In this post, we’ll share some examples of patient satisfaction survey questions that can help you gain actionable feedback along with some ways to make the process more efficient for both you and your patients.

Simplify the Patient Survey Process

The key to getting patient feedback is making it convenient and accessible. Many modern doctors’ offices equip their waiting rooms with a tablet so patients can leave valuable feedback. With a few clicks and swipes, patients can quickly answer questions that will help doctors improve their quality of care.

The Device Magic Mobile Form Builder allows you to drag and drop elements to create a patient feedback survey customized to your unique needs. Learn more

Questions to Include in Your Survey

Creating a custom patient feedback form allows you to ask the questions that really matter to your practice. It also allows you to skip the questions that don’t apply to your patients or your practice. So, what questions should you be asking?

Survey questions can range from patient experiences with the waiting room and front office staff to managing medical records, the doctor’s bedside manner, medical insurance, and more. Let’s explore some sample questions:

Q: How easy was it to make an appointment?

The first thing you may want to know from your patients is how easy it was to make an appointment with your office. You can ask questions such as:

• Were you able to speak with the front office staff on your first try?
• If you had to leave a message, was your call returned promptly?
• Is there something you would improve/change about our appointment scheduling process?

Your survey should allow patients an opportunity to elaborate on their answers. While you can ask patients to rank their experience on a scale of 1-5 or click a simple yes or no option, you should also provide a free text space to give them the room to explain their answers and provide more detailed feedback.

Q: How was your interaction with office staff?

Once the appointment is made, patients will visit the office and interact with the staff at the front desk. This interaction often sets the tone for their experience and is critical to patient retention. Some questions you can ask about this stage in the appointment process include:

• Were you greeted when you entered the office?
• Was the front office staff friendly and professional?
• Was it easy to check-in?
• Were you addressed by name during the check-in process?

The front office staff is the face of the practice. They play a significant role in a patient’s first impression and can be a contributing factor when patients are deciding whether to stay with the practice or find a new provider. This valuable patient feedback will help you address any recurring issues, provide necessary training, and help create an environment that is professional, welcoming, and efficient.

Q: How long did you have to wait?

For patients who are already anxious about their appointment, a crowded, unorganized, or chaotic waiting room can add to their stress. Consistent prolonged wait times are also a sure way to encourage your patients to find a new practice. Patients want to know that you care about their time, not just your bottom line. That said, decreasing wait times can also help you to see more patients and improve your bottom line.

To get patient insight regarding the waiting room experience, you can ask questions such as:

• On average, how long do you wait in the waiting room before seeing your doctor?
• How clean and organized is the waiting room?
• Are there things we can add to the waiting room to improve your experience?

Speed up the patient intake process with mobile forms to reduce wait times. Learn More.

Q: How was your experience with your medical provider?

To give patients the best care possible, you need to know how they feel once they are in the exam room. While most patients can get over an extended wait time or convenient appointment scheduling process, most are not willing to compromise on their interaction with their medical provider.

Some questions you can ask in your patient satisfaction survey to gauge how safe, happy, and heard your patients feel in the exam room include:

• How was your experience with the nurse practitioner?
• Do you feel like the doctor listened to your concerns?
• Did you get enough time with the doctor?
• Do you feel like the doctor was familiar with your medical history and past experiences?
• Did the doctor make you feel safe?

If you want to keep your existing patients and earn the trust of new ones, you can never have too much feedback about how they feel when they are under your care. The more you know about how patients feel when they are in your office, the more you can tailor your methods to their needs.

Q: Were you able to schedule a follow-up or obtain your medical records?

For most patients, their experience does not end once the appointment is over. Eventually, they will need to come back for a follow-up or to request their medical records. If patients have a great experience in your office but then struggle to get their records transferred to a specialist or have problems picking up a prescription, it could be frustrating, if not life-threatening.

Some questions you can ask about follow up procedures include:

• Tell us about your experience requesting medical records from this office
• How easy is it to schedule a follow-up appointment at this office?
• How would you rate your personal experience with this office regarding patient privacy and HIPAA laws?

Q: Is there anything else we should know?

While the patient satisfaction survey questions we’ve noted above can provide valuable insight into the patient experience, there should always be room for patients to leave more specific feedback. Be sure to leave space for patients to elaborate on the provided questions and to ask questions of their own.

Create Custom Patient Surveys with Device Magic

Device Magic provides the tools to help you easily create, complete, and share data from mobile forms—with or without internet access. If you’re looking to improve the patient experience by collecting patient feedback, a patient satisfaction survey is the first step. Start Device Magic for free and build a custom feedback form for your practice.