Enhancing patient motivation to reduce UV risk behaviors: assessing the interest and willingness of dermatologists to try a different approach.

complete surveys with uniformly high marks. Given the high levels of patient satisfaction currently observed, one would hope that this would be unnecessary. Certainly this type of data manipulation would not be motivated by the ABD, whose DMOC program requires participation in quality assurance programs; however, the ABD does not review data from individual dermatologists. In addition, an important question currently not included in the DrScore survey is “How likely would you be to recommend this practice and/or physician to others?” The addition of this question would likely make the tool even more useful to the subscriber. A multitude of factors affect patient perception of quality health care. Some dermatologists might find it difficult to accept criticism of errors made by office staff. Nonetheless, physicians are ultimately held accountable by patients for the actions of new and inexperienced office staff members. The physician is the “ship’s captain” and is ultimately responsible for the patient’s satisfaction with the entire office visit. In a recent study focusing on the relationship between patient wait times and patient satisfaction, Anderson et al reported that the time spent with the physician is of utmost importance to the patient and was the most powerful predictor of patient satisfaction, even greater than wait time. Satisfaction surveys providing insight into patient perceptions of time spent with the dermatologist would likely prove to be a valuable tool for any practicing dermatologist. The cost of such a system will certainly be of interest to those implementing a quality improvement assessment program. The DrScore service costs $149.00 for the first year of membership and includes 4 quarterly reports. The Internet-based patient satisfaction surveys are cost-effective, and there is no limit to the number of surveys that can be conducted per medical office. The American Academy of Dermatology might also develop quality assurance tools designed to assess patient satisfaction and meet DMOC requirements for peer performance review similar to the systems under development by other specialty boards.