Since July 2004, we have measured patient satisfaction using a nationally known vendor called Professional Research Consultants (PRC). Patients are called within one week after they receive service at Shands. Patient satisfaction is measured in all our hospitals, emergency departments and ambulatory surgery centers. Shands’ patient responses can be compared to responses from patients in more than 1,800 hospitals. Our priority is to increase our patients’ satisfaction with their experiences at Shands.

In June 2008, Shands HealthCare was recognized by PRC with several ‘Excellence in Healthcare Awards.’ Five hospitals and two surgery centers within the Shands HealthCare system earned 18 awards for patient satisfaction.

The Top Performer Award, PRC’s most prestigious honor, is given to the facility or unit that receives the highest score for the Overall Quality of Care question on the national PRC survey. A Shands at the University of Florida oncology unit earned this prestigious award for the second year in a row.

The following services scored between the 75th and the 100th percentile, which means that they scored better than at least 75% of all hospitals surveyed by PRC:

• Shands AGH (overall, Emergency Department, and Ayers Surgery Center)
• Shands Live Oak
• Shands Rehab Hospital
• Shands Starke
• Shands at the University of Florida (overall; PICU and NICU; Medical/Surgical Units 11, 54, 55, 65, 75, 95; 11-5 Oncology; 4th Floor Pediatrics; and Florida Surgical Center)

The Shands Rehab Hospital team maintained a 100th-percentile ranking when compared with other rehab hospitals and rehab inpatient units in the PRC database.

Internal Outcomes Instrument (IOI) satisfaction tool measures quality of care

Our organization’s ancillary services and outpatient clinics (including outpatient clinics of our affiliate, the University of Florida College of Medicine, which are administratively managed by Shands HealthCare) use a tool created by Shands called the Internal Outcomes Instrument to help us measure patient satisfaction. Shands Jacksonville most recently started using the IOI in April 2006.

In the first quarter of this year, our IOI indicated that in 14 clinics and services, 90 percent or more of our patients rated us "Excellent" for overall quality of care (scoring the overall quality of care as “excellent”):

• UF Physicians Haile Pediatrics (100 percent)
• Shands Live Oak Radiology (95 percent)
• Shands Starke Radiology (94 percent)
• UF Physicians Skin and Cancer Center (93 percent)
• Shands AGH OB/GYN (92 percent)
• Shands Physical Therapy at UF Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute (92 percent)
• Shands at UF EEG (92 percent)
• Shands AGH Sleep Disorders Center (91 percent)
• Shands Rehab Center at Magnolia Park (91 percent)
• UF Physicians Eye Specialties at Hampton Oaks (91 percent)
• UF Physicians Bone Density at Magnolia Park (90 percent)
• UF Physicians OB/GYN at Magnolia Park (90 percent)
• Shands Live Oak Laboratory (90 percent)
• Shands Medical Plaza Radiology (90 percent)