The program, called RateMyHospital, sends a text message to each patient within an hour of leaving the hospital, asking six to eight questions about their experience during the visit. It takes less than a minute to answer the questions and the results are immediately available to hospital staff, with an alert if a patient reports a problem. The program provides patients with the ability to answer questions in English or Spanish.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve patient experience, and this new web-based tool enables us to closely track patient satisfaction,” said Mark Kobe, RN, MPA, Chief Nursing Officer. “Most important, if a patient has a problem or identifies an issue, we learn about it and can respond quickly.”

“It’s part of our commitment to provide Sonoma Valley residents with the highest level of care available, and it’s a plus that it’s also very cost effective when compared with traditional patient satisfaction survey methods,” Kobe added. He notes that the survey can only be sent to patients with a phone capable of receiving text messages, but the majority of people have phones with this capability. Patients will now be asked to provide their mobile phone number when they register.

In the coming year, the hospital plans to test the RateMyHospital program with a number of outpatient services including Emergency, Outpatient Surgery, Radiology and Physical Therapy/Rehabilitation. Those admitted to the hospital for inpatient care will continue to receive a follow up satisfaction survey by mail.