Service delivery assessment vital to patient care Published July 22, 2008 By Maj. Jerry Harvey Office of the Air Force Surgeon General WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Patient feedback through a centralized telephone survey program known as the service delivery assessment, or SDA, provides Air Force clinic staffs 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, AFMS officials have relied on SDAs to assess and improve upon the patient experience at all Air Force clinics. Survey questions are customized by staff members at each facility. The results are disseminated in a weekly report to each facility's staff, and to AFMS leaders. The weekly report allows Air Force clinic officials to quickly take corrective action in areas where there are shortcomings or improvement needs. It also helps them understand what is working well at their facility, promote and perfect best practices, and share successes with other facilities through lessons learned. The reports have shown that Air Force health care providers and staff 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 after the patient's visit to an Air Force clinic. The interviews are brief (typically less than five minutes) and, as with all matters related to a patient's health, complete patient privacy is maintained. 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 the provider. Through programs like SDA, AFMS officials can continue to build on successes, and fulfill their pledge to maintain a healthy, steady and ready fighting force. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page