Quantitative Research Article Review free essay sample

There are various reasons why I chose this article. I am an agency nurse and work at various different emergency departments around Middle Tennessee. Most of them are concerned about patient satisfaction scores and are frequently called into meetings regarding these scores. Staff at most of these hospitals can be called to the carpet as you may say if we have unsatisfactory reports from patients. This can be very frustrating because not all the facts are taken into consideration and the report is solely based on an irate patients comment. Most of these comments are due to the fact that the patient had to wait a long time to see the doctor or get placed into a room and last but not least is the number one complaint of not getting pain medication or prescriptions for pain medication. We, the staff see this as unfair, but according to the article, Medicare is one of the main driving forces behind the patient satisfaction scores and reimbursement by Medicare will be determined by the scores. The article appears to have credibility and integrity based on the fact the report is very well written, concise, and organized. The author has a doctorate in medicine, and the title is clear and accurate. The abstract provides a clear overview of the problem, methodology, findings and recommendations. The only concerning issue about this article is how they obtained the patient satisfaction scores, the demographics, the population which is the emergency room patients was noted, how many patients where surveyed, and many other variables were not discussed. The purpose of the study was clearly identified in the title of the article. The article maintained logical consistency and flowed very well. The literature review was limited due to the fact that this idea of patient satisfaction scores are fairly new idea and the research is somewhat limited. The method of the study was an ex post facto correlational study and somewhat vague. The hypothesis was clearly stated in this article and two were used. The two used were, â€Å"No correlation exists between the hospitals allied health care department’s revenue and various measures of allied health care customer satisfaction from April 2008 to April 2010† and â€Å"A correlation exists between the hospital’s allied health care department’s revenue and various measures of allied health care customer satisfaction from April 2008 to April 2010† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). The article also discussed the research question for the study which is, â€Å"what is the relationship, if any, between allied health care practitioners’ customer service skills and a hospital’s gross revenue† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). The sample â€Å"involved 25 months of historical satisfaction survey mean scores and revenue statements from a rural hospital in northeastern Oklahoma† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). â€Å"The current study involved identifying a relationship between two variables: the customer service skills of allied health care practitioners and a hospital’s financial success. The current study included data in the form of statistical figures and table. Revenue reports and patient satisfaction surveys for the same period were also analyzed (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 2). The target population was vaguely identified along with aims and the theoretical framework used. The ethical considerations were not mentioned in this study. The data was analyzed by Pearson correlations and operational definitions were clearly defined. Although the data analysis was clearly defined and appropriate, the number of participants was not mentioned. The findings were not mentioned with the literature review but the hypothesis was identified and supported. The study concluded that â€Å"with respect to inpatient ratings, the null hypothesis was not rejected, and it could not be concluded that the hospital’s gross revenue was related to mean inpatient satisfaction scores. However, emergency department mean patient satisfaction scores were correlated to revenue in three areas of allied health care practitioner skills, standard testing, courtesy of person performing blood collection, and courtesy of radiology personnel† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. ). â€Å"Other factors that affect hospital gross revenue such as health care facility location and seasonal trends were identified. Rural health care facilities are a primary source of patient care for elderly and uninsured in rural areas; therefore, taking care of these patients will result in greater patient satisfaction scores and ultimately increased hospital revenue† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 5). â€Å"Based on the information gained from this study, a new model for patient care was developed for exploration. Take Care of Patients of TCOP is based on the premise that is rural health care facilities are taking care of patients by meeting or exceeding the patients expectations, all aspects of rural health care survival, including patient satisfaction, will work together to provide the greatest care for patients and greatest reimbursement for the health care facility† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 5). The study concluded that the† study did not indicate a significant relationship exists between allied health care practitioner customer service skills and a hospitals gross revenue in the inpatient setting† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. ). The study recommended that the â€Å"health care leadership must implement this simple customer service model, Take Care of Patients for allied health care practitioners to test its validity in a health care setting† (Ellis-Jacobs, 2011, p. 4). The references were accurately referenced in this study. I found the findings to be clinically and statistically significant. This research will be significant in years to come for all health care providers. Health care providers will be forced increase patient satisfaction scores in order to be reimbursed by Medicare and possible other insurance companies. It also means that health care providers will have to perform tests and give needless medications to patients in order to increase these scores. This means providers will have to give a known drug seeker a prescription for Lortab, so they do not call and complain. It also means that the doctors with attitude and lack of bed side manners will have to learn new customer service skills which could not only help the patient but the staff as well. For the Advanced Practice Nurse, this means that we will have to improve our customer service skills in order to maintain or jobs and receive paychecks. With the growing geriatric population, most of our patient’s will have Medicare and we will have to jump through hoops in order to keep our clinics, hospitals, and walk-in clinics open and profitable. Something that should possibley be done for health care providers is to hold seminars on how to increase patients satisfaction scores without jeopardizing our dignity and license.