Decision Sciences Research Associates (DSRA) has worked with healthcare clients for over 30 years. Our initial involvement was partnering with one of the pioneers of the pre-utilization review business to build databases, reporting structures, and automated communications between the review firm, the patients, and the insurers. Over time, our work in the healthcare field has evolved to incorporate policy evaluation and patient satisfaction studies so that healthcare organizations can capitalize on their strengths and work to eliminate shortcomings.

Patient and Member Satisfaction Studies

Surveys are used to gather information about members’ experiences with providers and managed care companies and used to guide policy for continuous quality improvement. Surveys provide a valuable tool for measuring members’ opinions about the quality of the care they receive and the ease of dealing with administrative matters, as well as physician evaluations. In addition, a member satisfaction survey sends a message that the health care organization truly cares about its members. In turn, this perception increases member loyalty and commitment. DSRA has the expertise and tools to carryout on-going satisfaction tracking surveys to develop strategies for optimizing patient and member satisfaction.

Disease Management Tracking Studies

DSRA has developed on-going tracking surveys to support specialized disease management programs. These include surveys targeted to particular diagnostic classes including populations with asthma, allergies, diabetes, hepatitis, and coronary disease. Typically these studies involve a baseline survey asking about knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding the disease and treatment strategies. The survey findings identify high-risk patients, who are referred to active case management programs. Follow-up surveys are conducted at routine intervals where health outcomes were monitored. DSRA developed strategies which effectively utilized an online research portal to collect on-going data at considerably reduced data collection costs than are typical of mail or phone interview situations.

Employee Health-Related Studies

For a number of large employers, such as airlines and large manufacturers, we conduct studies of the effects of particular health issues on employee and work conditions. For these employers, we create links into their existing employee intranet sites which trigger surveys about the specified health conditions. DSRA was able to collect and analyze the health and work data for the employers, providing them with sufficient information to target campaigns and policy change which would improve both the health of their employees and worksite productivity.