Rozenblum, R., Lisby, M., Hockey, P.M., Levtizion-Korach, O., Salzberg, C.A., Lipsitz, S., Bates, D.W. (2011). Uncovering the blind spot of patient satisfaction: an international survey. BMJ Quality and Safety, 20. Retrieved from http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/20/11/959.full.

Background: To achieve a high level of patient satisfaction, providers need to identify and address patients’ expectations. However, providers’ beliefs and attitudes regarding expectations, as well as how to manage them, are not well understood.

Methods: The authors developed a survey to assess clinicians’ awareness, attitudes, competence and performance with respect to patient expectations. The authors surveyed clinicians in four academic hospitals located in Denmark, Israel, the UK and the USA.

Conclusion: While clinicians think it is important to ask patients about their expectations, they often fail to do so and consequently may not respond adequately. These results identify a ‘blind spot’ in clinicians’ approach when attempting to address patient expectations and improve patient satisfaction, suggesting that healthcare organisations should take a more active role in increasing clinicians’ awareness and initiating structured training programmes to cope with patient expectations.