Patient satisfaction with the laborist model of care in a large urban hospital

BACKGROUND The obstetric practice environment is evolving to include more laborists staffing obstetric units, with the hope of improving quality of care and provider satisfaction, yet there are scant data on the impact of a laborist care model on patient satisfaction or delivery outcomes. We sought to assess patient satisfaction after implementation of the laborist model of obstetric care in a large urban teaching hospital. METHODS Postpartum patients were asked to complete an anonymous survey assessing their satisfaction with care, particularly with regard to the laborist model. Survey questions included rating the overall experience of labor and delivery. All responses were based on a five-point Likert scale. Press-Ganey results were compared from before and after initiation of the model. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. RESULTS Post-laborist implementation obstetric and delivery experience surveys were collected from 4166 patients, representing a 54% response rate. Ninety percent of patients reported that they were highly satisfied with the overall experience in the labor and delivery unit. A subgroup was asked to rate their experience with the practitioner for their current delivery. Of the 687 respondents, 75% answered excellent, 18% answered good/very good, and 3.4% answered neutral. Eighty-five percent of this subgroup stated that they were informed during prenatal care that they may be delivered by someone other than the practitioner or group that they saw during the pregnancy. Thirty-seven percent (n = 1553) of the total respondents reported that they had had a previous delivery at this institution, 97% (n = 1506) of whom stated "yes" to having their next delivery at this institution. Press-Ganey results were similarly favorable in both time periods (91.3 [n = 811] versus 93.4 [n = 747], P = 0.08). CONCLUSION Patient satisfaction does not appear to be adversely affected by initiation of the laborist model. Additional research is needed to understand further the implications of this model for provider satisfaction, and maternal and neonatal outcomes.