Service delivery assessment vital to patient care Published Jan. 21, 2009 By Maj. Jerry Harvey Office of the Air Force Surgeon General WASHINGTON -- Patient feedback through the service delivery assessment -- a centralized telephone survey program -- provides Air Force clinics with direct, rapid and relevant feedback from their patients vital to national security, Air Force Medical Service officials said. "Improving the health of Airmen and their families is our mission and patient feedback is vital to our efforts to continuously improve," said Maj. Gen. (Dr.) Bruce Green, Air Force deputy surgeon general. Since 2003, the AFMS has relied on SDA to assess and improve upon the patient experience at all Air Force clinics. Each facility customizes the survey. These results are in a weekly report the facility's staff and AFMS leadership disseminate. The weekly report allows Air Force clinics to take corrective action in areas where there are shortcomings or needed improvement. It also helps Air Force clinics understand what is working well at their facility, promote and perfect the best practices and share successes with other facilities through lessons learned. The reports have shown Air Force health care providers and staffs are succeeding in this mission by upholding the highest standards of care and delivering that care with courtesy, respect and dignity to every patient. The way SDA works is simple. A trained caller contacts the patient by phone within 48 hours of the patient's visit to an Air Force clinic. The interviews are brief, less than five minutes, and as with all matters related to a patient's health, maintain complete patient privacy. Questions focus on the patient's observations about the facility and the patient's health care providers, including: ease of setting the appointment, check-in and wait time, staff courtesy and attention, overall satisfaction with facility, and overall satisfaction with provider. Through programs like SDA, AFMS continues to build on successes, and fulfill its pledge to maintain a healthy, steady and ready fighting force.