In the era of Press Ganey, patient-oriented outcomes, hospital reimbursment, and physician compensation are all tied to patient satisfaction. Improving patient satisfaction is now a multi-billion dollar industry and encroaches on every aspect of healthcare, including residency training. How do doctors at the beginning of their careers affect patient satisfaction and impact Press Ganey Scores? This post reviews two studies shedding light on this issue.

Sayegh et al. "The Effect of Resident Physicians on Press Ganey Scores in the Emergency Department." CORD EM Research Abstracts 2016. Hackensack University Medical Center:

• Hackensack University Medical Center. Level II Trauma Center. 115,000 patients per year.

• Mixed regression analysis of 816 surveys returned to the Emergency Department in 2015.

• Encounters were divided into two categories: 1) Attending Only and 2) Attending Plus Resident
• Patients seen by advanced practitioners were excluded

• Press Ganey Scores were not significantly different between the Attending Only group and the Attending Plus Resident group.

• Trend towards better scores in the Attending Plus Resident group
• Resident participation adds length and complexity to patient interactions and does not reduce patient satisfaction. Non-significant trend that resident participation improves patient satisfaction.

Feisseler et al. "Do Resident Press Ganey Scores Improve During the Academic Year?" Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. CORD Abstracts Issue 2016:

• Retrospective review between 2013-2016 at Morristown Medical Center

• Analyzed 2634 Press Ganey Scores when they were associated with residents (Attending Plus Resident)

• Compared scores from July (first month) and June (last month) as well as scores from July/August and May/June

• Mean overall Press Ganey Score: 87.8

• Mean overall July Press Ganey Score: 87.7 (95% CI 90.5-84.44)

• Mean overall June Press Ganey Score: 86.3 (95% CI 90.4-82.3) (p=0.77)

• Mean overall July/August Press Ganey Score: 88.7 (95% CI 90.5-85.9)

• Mean overall May/June Press Ganey Score: 87.0 (95% CI 89.62-84.38) (p=0.28)

• No significant improvement or difference of scores from the first to final months of training for residents in the Emergency Department.