Patient Reported Satisfaction and its Impact on Outcomes in Spinal Surgery: A Mini Review

Abstract

Patient satisfaction has emerged as a critical metric in assessing patient-reported outcomes for healthcare services. The importance of accurately measuring satisfaction is evidenced by the implementation of patient-reported satisfaction as a tool for healthcare reimbursement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act have formalized the grading of healthcare quality using patient-centric outcomes. Additionally, data indicate that patient satisfaction is directly governed by patient expectations and this expectation-actuality relationship may have a profound impact on patient outcomes. Healthcare providers must have an understanding of the parameters used to measure patient satisfaction and of the associated impact that treatment satisfaction has on patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). The purpose of this manuscript is to provide a brief overview of how patient satisfaction is defined and measured and to evaluate the implications of poor patient satisfaction on patient-reported outcomes and perceived surgical success. Additionally, we explore the clinical utility of measuring satisfaction on an institutional scale.