Patients want more emotional support at hospitals: survey

Patients give California hospitals high marks for attention to physical comfort but believe hospitals could do more to provide emotional support, according to a survey released by the California HealthCare Foundation, Oakland, and the California Institute for Health Systems Performance, Sacramento. The Patients' Evaluation of Performance in California, or PEP-C, survey tabulated responses from nearly 35,000 patients who spent at least one night at one of the 181 participating hospitals between July 2002 and October 2002. Hospitals received one, two or three stars -- for below average, average and above average -- on each of seven quality measures as well as an overall rating. Statewide, 18% of hospitals scored below average, 57% average and 25% above average. That compares with last year's survey of 113 hospitals, in which 20% scored below average, 58% average and 22% above average. Scores are made public to help consumers decide where to seek care and to encourage hospitals to improve service. Read the survey results. -- by Laura B. Benko