Other metrics in feedback surveys

While NPS, Response rates, Delivery rates, and Completion rates are commonly discussed metrics in feedback surveys, they don't provide the full picture of patient experiences and service effectiveness. For a complete understanding of the patient journey, we have to consider additional metrics — those that can shed light on different aspects of patient interactions and satisfaction. 

A broader set of metrics helps healthcare providers obtain more nuanced insights and identify areas for improvement more precisely. Let’s look at some of these additional metrics and their purposes.

Patient retention rate

Patient retention rate measures the percentage of patients who return to your facility for additional visits or treatments over a specified period.

It indicates the loyalty of your patient base and the effectiveness of your retention strategies. In the long-term, it helps you understand how well you are maintaining relationships with patients.

First contact resolution

This metric assesses the percentage of patient issues or inquiries resolved within the first contact with your healthcare facility. It basically measures the efficiency and effectiveness of your staff in addressing patient concerns.

A high FCR rate often leads to higher patient satisfaction — especially if issues are resolved quickly without the need for multiple contacts.

Time to resolution

This metric tracks the average time it takes to resolve patient issues or complete a treatment process, measured from the initial contact to the final resolution. It helps identify bottlenecks and areas where processes can be streamlined to improve efficiency.

Faster resolutions, much like First contact resolution, typically lead to higher patient satisfaction.

Survey abandonment rate

Survey abandonment rate measures the percentage of patients who start but do not complete your survey — capturing the opposite demographic from Completion rates. Its primary purpose is getting survey design feedback — it uncovers potential issues with survey length, complexity, or engagement. In doing so, Survey abandonment rate helps identify opportunities to refine your survey design to improve completion rates.

Open-ended question analysis

This involves analyzing qualitative feedback from open-ended survey questions where patients can provide detailed responses in their own words.

Open-ended questions have the advantage of providing in-depth, rich, detailed insights that quantitative data may not capture. Analyzing the responses helps identify emerging trends, common themes, and specific areas of concern or praise.

Bounce rate

Bounce rate tracks the percentage of survey invitations that could not be delivered to recipients, similar to email bounce rates.

High bounce rates indicate issues with data quality, or more specifically — with contact information accuracy. It can also help identify and address technical problems with message delivery.

Click-through rate (CTR)

CTR measures the percentage of patients who click on the survey link in your invitation message, out of the total number of messages delivered.

At its core, the CTR metric is an engagement indicator for your survey invitations. Ultimately, it helps optimize the content and design of your invitations to increase engagement.

Working with additional metrics

Modern feedback platforms are able to integrate these additional metrics into your feedback system. The InsiderCX platform is designed and built so that it allows you to fully customize your surveys, with a special emphasis on a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions — ensuring you gather a well-rounded set of data.

Here are some more Insider tips for survey metrics:

• Use a mix of metrics: Various metrics offer a comprehensive view of patient feedback and experiences — e.g., while NPS provides an overall measure of loyalty, metrics like First contact resolution and Time to resolution measure operational efficiency and patient service experiences.
• ‍Regular monitoring: Track and analyze these metrics to spot trends on time; stay proactive in addressing issues before they escalate, because that ensures ongoing patient satisfaction.
• ‍Segment your data: Analyze metrics by different patient demographics and visit types to understand specific needs and preferences; this helps tailor improvements more effectively.
• ‍Engage with patients: Follow-up questions delve deeper into patient feedback — e.g., if a survey indicates low satisfaction, follow-up questions can uncover the root causes.
• ‍Iterate on survey design: Update and test your survey questions and format to ensure they remain relevant and engaging; A/B testing different versions of your surveys can help determine which designs and questions get the best response rates and feedback quality.
• ‍Train your staff: Make sure your staff understands the importance of these metrics and how to act on the insights you get; your team needs to stay aligned with your goals, with a strong focus on consistently improving the patient experience.

Conclusion

To truly enhance patient care and satisfaction, start by integrating a diverse set of metrics into your feedback surveys. But don’t stop there: regularly monitor these metrics to identify trends and areas for improvement. 

Using tools like InsiderCX enables you to seamlessly track and analyze these metrics, making sure your feedback provides the most valuable and comprehensive data possible. That way you’re making sure the feedback serves its core purpose — helping you introduce data-driven changes that improve the overall patient experience.