What Influences How Patients Rate Their Hospital Stay After Total Hip Arthroplasty?

PURPOSE: Measuring the effect of operative interventions has been a challenge in orthopaedics. The assessment of patient satisfaction, as measured by the Press Ganey (PG) satisfaction surveys, has gained increasing attention. Our purpose was to determine the factors and patient characteristics that influence patient satisfaction after THA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The PG database was queried identifying 692 THA patients (November 2009 to January 2015). A multiple regression analysis was conducted.

RESULTS: Significant influence was found in communication with nurses (p=<0.001), response time of hospital staff (p=0.001), communication with physicians (p=0.002), and hospital environment (p=0.049). Management of pain and communication about medications were not significant for overall hospital rating. There were no differences between PG scores of patients who did and did not have complications.

CONCLUSIONS: Hospital rating was significantly influenced by patients' communication with nurses, response time of hospital staff, and communication with physicians. Recognizing the importance of these elements, can greatly improve patient satisfaction after THA.