Comparison of Primary Care Patients' and Unannounced Standardized Patients' Perceptions of Care

Lisa Altshuler; Harriet Fisher; Jeffrey Wilhite; Zoe Phillips; Isaac Holmes; Richard E Greene; Andrew B Wallach; Reina Smith; Kathleen Hanley; Mark D Schwartz; Sondra Zabar

doi:10.1177/23743735231158940

Comparison of Primary Care Patients' and Unannounced Standardized Patients' Perceptions of Care

J Patient Exp. 2023 Feb 27:10:23743735231158940. doi: 10.1177/23743735231158940. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lisa Altshuler¹, Harriet Fisher¹, Jeffrey Wilhite¹, Zoe Phillips¹, Isaac Holmes², Richard E Greene^{1

2}, Andrew B Wallach^{1

2}, Reina Smith², Kathleen Hanley^{1

2}, Mark D Schwartz^{1

3}, Sondra Zabar^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
² Adult Primary Care Clinic, NYC Health + Hospitals, New York, NY, USA.
³ Department of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare unannounced standardized patient (USP) and patient reports of care. Patient satisfaction surveys and USP checklist results collected at an urban, public hospital were compared to identify items included in both surveys. Qualitative commentary was reviewed to better understand USP and patient satisfaction survey data. Analyses included χ² and Mann-Whitney U test. Patients provided significantly higher ratings on 10 of the 11 items when compared to USPs. USPs may provide a more objective perspective on a clinical encounter than a real patient, reinforcing the notion that real patients skew overly positive or negative.

Keywords: outpatient satisfaction data; patient expectations; patient feedback; patient satisfaction; quality improvement.