Patient satisfaction may decline after hospital acquisition

- Medicare quality-of-care data reveal that when a hospital is acquired by another hospital or hospital system, readmission and mortality rates are not affected but patient satisfaction deteriorates modestly.

Compared to a control group of 1,986 hospitals that did not change hands, acquired hospitals saw their"patient experience" satisfaction score decline from the equivalent of 50th percentile to 41st.The satisfaction score was based on patient responses to questions about whether they would definitely recommend the hospital, whether the doctor or nurse communicated well, whether they received help when needed, and whether they would rate the hospital as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale.

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