In an effort to better assess patient satisfaction, the New York City-based Mount Sinai Medical Center has launched a real-time patient-feedback survey tool for cancer patients. The tool went live on July 15, and so far, patients have been providing feedback in real-time, according to Mount Sinai officials.

Traditional patient-satisfaction scores are based on paper surveys that are sent to patients after they have left the facility. This tool, RateMyHospital, helps healthcare providers get real-time patient feedback that is essential in assessing and improving patient care. Patients fill out the online survey in real-time as it is delivered via text message. It is accessible on smartphones and via any mobile web browser.

Patients answer 12 questions with a 5-star rating system, with 5 being the best value. Questions inquire about the patient’s ability to get an appointment, office wait times, physician or office staff availability by phone, and cleanliness of the facility.

Mount Sinai is planning to roll out RateMyHospital in all clinical areas in the future, but for now it is just a part of the Derald H. Ruttenberg Treatment Center for cancer patients. “As patients fill out their paperwork at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center, we ask them to provide us with a cell phone number,” Randall F. Holcombe, M.D., medical director of the Ruttenberg Treatment Center, said in a statement. “From there, we send them a text message asking them to fill out a brief survey on their smartphone. So far, the response has been outstanding. We get several-fold more responses than seen with traditional paper-based mail surveys.

The new tool was developed by Quality Reviews, a software company that creates products to help healthcare organizations capture and analyze real-time patient feedback. "Importantly, this tool is simple and easy for patients to use and it provides us with immediate feedback so that we can make any changes necessary to improve the patient experience in nearly real time, Holcombe added.”