FAQ
At The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, we are committed to providing the information you need to make important decisions about your health care. One important way we are doing this is by publishing star ratings and reviews, which are curated through comment forms, on our doctors’ profile pages. We know the patient-doctor relationship is a critical element for achieving trust, satisfaction and positive outcomes and hope that by transparently sharing feedback from prior patients we can help you feel more confident in choosing the right provider.
What survey is used?
The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center measures many aspects of our patients' experiences. The ratings and reviews on the doctor profiles are gathered from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Clinician and Group Survey, developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for use in medical practices across the country. On behalf of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, an independent patient satisfaction organization administers the survey to patients who see our doctors in an outpatient clinic office.
Who receives the survey?
Patients treated by Ohio State Wexner Medical Center doctors are randomly invited to complete our patient experience surveys. Surveys are sent by mail or email and give patients an opportunity to provide feedback about their experience with their doctor. Each year over 47,000 Ohio State Wexner Medical Center patients who receive a survey offer feedback about their experience on the CAHPS Clinician and Group Survey.
Can anyone complete a survey or post a comment?
No. Only patients having an outpatient visit with an Ohio State Wexner Medical Center doctor may be selected to receive a survey. This way we can assure you the ratings and comments are only from patients who have actually been treated by that doctor.
What do we do with the survey responses?
At the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, we continually look at patients' feedback and ratings to evaluate patients' overall perception of care. We use this information to recognize exceptional care provided by our doctors and staff and to improve the quality of care that we provide to you, your family, friends and neighbors.
How is the patient satisfaction star rating created?
Star ratings are based on patient responses to six questions about care from their doctor.
- Did the provider explain things in a way that was easy to understand?
- Did the provider listen carefully to you?
- Did the provider give you easy-to-understand information about your health questions or concerns?
- Did the provider seem to know the important information about your medical history?
- Did the provider show respect for what you had to say?
- Did the provider spend enough time with you?
For each doctor, ratings from their patients are averaged together to form a single star rating. Responses are converted to a 5-point rating system and applied consistently to all providers.
Are all comments posted?
We are committed to posting both positive and negative comments from the surveys. However, we do not post comments that are offensive, libelous, slanderous, profane, irrelevant or may risk the privacy of our patients. If you do not see your survey comments and would like to know more about our comment screening process or if you recognize your comments and wish for them to be removed from the website, please contact us at OSUCareConnection@osumc.edu.
Why aren’t patient satisfaction ratings and comments showing for every doctor?
Star ratings are only displayed for doctors who have 30 or more survey responses to ensure the ratings we share are statistically valid. As an academic medical center, some of our providers split time between seeing patients, conducting research, teaching and administrative functions and therefore may have limited survey responses.
In addition, ratings are not included currently included for patients who:
- Were discharged from the hospital
- Have undergone a procedure
- Received care at an urgent care clinic
- Were seen in the emergency department
What other ways are you sharing information transparently with patients?
We also share additional patient experience, outcome, process, and efficiency measures via Performance Reports.