Association between patient and emergency department operational characteristics and patient satisfaction scores in a pediatric population

Background Emergency departments (EDs) are seeing an increase in the importance of patient satisfaction scores, yet little is known about their association with patient and operational characteristics. Objectives This study aimed to identify patient and operational characteristics associated with patient satisfaction scores. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of data from Press Ganey patient satisfaction surveys of pediatric patients (2 hours) was significantly associated with lower scores in overall experience and likelihood to recommend, whereas surveys completed online had higher scores for waiting time to see a provider compared with mailed. Conclusions Emergency departments looking to increase satisfaction scores should focus efforts on decreasing door-to-room times.