Health P.E.I. survey to know about hospital stays

Health P.E.I. wants to hear from those admitted to an Island hospital in the last month as part of its online patient satisfaction survey in acute care.

The survey is available in English and French, and patients discharged in September will receive a postcard in the mail with the link to the survey.

The change is aimed at getting more people to do the survey and ensuring patients are experiencing patient and family centred care.

“It’s really important to continue to work toward improving the patient experience with realtime feedback,” said patient navigator Mary Laura Coady.

The new survey was developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Health P.E.I. hospitals started collecting patients’ email addresses over the past year, so the survey can be sent by email to patients after discharge. Patients will be notified by email and regular mail when the surveys are ready to go.

The surveys, which will be sent out quarterly, include questions based on the four principals of patient and family-centered care: information sharing, dignity and respect, collaboration and participation.

“We want to know how our patients experienced the care provided by everyone in the system,” said Marion Dowling, Health P.E.I.’s chief of nursing, allied health and patient experience.

“We are encouraging people to provide us with this information and are hoping giving them an electronic option makes it easier.”

Dowling explained there was a lower response rate with acute care surveys last time, so they decided to try this new approach. They plan to take patient feedback back to staff at the health care facilities so recommended changes can be made.

“In acute care situations patients feel anxious and unsure, it can be a stressful time,” Dowling said. “We want to know if they were satisfied with their care, what helped make the care and what we can work to improve.”