A customer satisfaction survey is an instrument used by organizations to gauge the level of satisfaction of customers with the goods or services offered by the organization. In healthcare organizations, customer satisfaction surveys can be used to improve quality outcomes in various ways. First and foremost, the surveys enable an organization to identify the areas in which the customers are satisfied and dissatisfied. With this information, the organization can embark on measures that can improve the areas in which customers are dissatisfied. However, for the customer satisfaction survey to be helpful in improving quality outcomes, the organization must take into consideration a number of factors.
The first factor is the reliability of the instrument. Reliability is the degree to which similar results can be obtained from the same instrument if administered repeatedly. If the survey instrument is unreliable, the results obtained from the survey will be inaccurate, and therefore the organization will not be able to implement measures that address the actual problems because these problems would not be clearly highlighted. Second, the customer satisfaction survey instrument must be valid. The validity of an instrument refers to “the degree to which the instrument measures exactly what it says it measures.” Specifically, if the instrument is supposed to measure customers’ satisfaction with the services offered by the organization, then it should address factors that may affect the provision of such services. If the instrument fails to do so, then it is not valid, and as a result, it would not be useful for the organization in its quality improvement efforts.