Improving patient satisfaction scores is a priority in healthcare, but this focus could hurt care quality improvement efforts, according to an article on the FierceHealthcare website

Part of the problem, according to a paper from the Hastings Center, is that the definition of "satisfaction" varies. 

One definition involves whether the care is medically necessary and improves outcomes. The second is whether patients and families received the treatment they wanted, regardless of necessity or effectiveness. The third is only tangentially related to outcomes and involves aspects of care such as communication, respectful treatment and convenience, which are consistently a top priority for patients, the article said.

"'Patient satisfaction' means something different to everyone and bears no clear relationship to the technical quality of healthcare," the report said

Read the article.