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14th September, 2009

South Australian private hospitals delivering where it counts

South Australian private hospitals are amongst the best in Australia, according to the largest and most comprehensive survey of patient satisfaction, conducted by leading health company Medibank Private.

Over 21,000 recent hospital patients, including 1710 from South Australia, contributed to the survey, which ranged from the quality of care received and how well hospital staff communicated, through to food, accommodation and cleanliness.

When the survey results were analysed and compiled into a Member Experience Index, the average overall patient satisfaction score for South Australian private hospitals was 71.6 out of 100, ahead of the national average of 70. Overall South Australian patients were second only to Western Australia in terms of satisfaction with hospitals, and more satisfied that patients in any of the eastern states.

Specialist orthopaedic hospital SportsMed was the highest scoring facility, with an average Member Experience Index score of 78, followed by The Burnside War Memorial and North Eastern Community hospitals, each on 76 points.

According to Medibank Private’s Chief Executive Officer of Private Health Insurance, Bruce Levy, South Australian hospitals scored consistently well, with even the lowest ranked hospitals scoring at 65 points on the Member Experience Index.

“The survey has returned terrific results for our partner hospitals in South Australia. Overall the survey shows private patients are very satisfied with their hospital stay, which means private hospitals here are doing a lot of things right.

“Of course there are areas where hospitals and doctors can do more to meet patient expectations. Members reported noise and disturbances, privacy issues, and shared bathroom facilities as their greatest reasons for dissatisfaction.

“Accurate information on the fees charged by doctors and pathology providers continues to be a problem. Over a quarter of patients were not advised, or not advised correctly, of the gap they needed to pay by their treating specialist, with the performance of supporting doctors, in particular anaesthetists, poorer again.

“Of greatest concern however are gap fees for pathology tests and x-rays. Two thirds of patients reported not being advised that they would need to pay a gap for these services and this is just not good enough. Doctors and hospitals need to take the issue of informed financial consent seriously.

“We encourage members to talk to doctors about fees, but inevitably it is something that some patients will find difficult to do. I urge doctors and hospitals to work towards achieving as close to 100% informed financial consent as possible ” Mr Levy said.

ENDS

For further information please contact:
James Connors
Tel: 03 8622 5163 | Mob: 0433 992 677 | email: james_connors@medibank.com.au

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