MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. -- Patients at Naval Health Clinic Quantico’s three clinics on base now have the opportunity to offer feedback on their visits before they even leave the facility.
As of Feb. 4, each of the clinics has a kiosk where patients can take a customer satisfaction survey, and the main side clinic also has four iPads throughout the building that offer access to the survey. The electronic survey program is being piloted at Quantico and Patuxent River Naval Air Station.
“It’s really important for us to get patients’ feedback on their healthcare,” said clinic spokeswoman Heidi Linscott, adding that this helps the clinic better serve its clients.
The survey itself dates back about five years, when the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery created it and started mailing it to patients or inviting them to take it on a website, Linscott said. But it wasn’t anonymous and wasn’t available to patients who had only visited pharmacies or labs, and response rates were low. Linscott said this was especially a problem at OCS and TBS, where patient turnover is high.
“Now, at the OCS and TBS clinics, we don’t need to wait on that survey,” she said. “We can ask them to do it on their way out the door.”
The survey asks a few demographic questions, followed by about 10 questions that rank satisfaction, and a place for open comments. Responses are not only received by the clinic but also are sent to the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and the Navy Medical National Capital Area command.
“It’s our report card,” Linscott said. “It’s seen so high up that everybody knows how well we’re doing and how well we’re not doing, according to our patients’ perspective.”
She said the clinic’s leadership hopes patients will take the survey when they have positive experiences, as well as offering negative feedback, so the results create an accurate assessment.
“We’re just happy to be chosen as one of the [test] sites, and we encourage patients to take the opportunity and fill out the survey,” she said.
— Writer: mdicicco@quanticosentryonline.com