answer:The trend is starting where these surveys will impact exactly how the providers and facilities get reimbursed. It’s starting with Medicare, but usually other Insurers follow suit eventually. You know how the car dealership asks you to fill out the survey and tells you that only a “10” (the highest rating) counts? That is how this system is currently structured. Retail is a whole different ‘industry’ than health care. Some people have chronic, progressive conditions that will get worse even with the best home care and response to medical treatments. Providers instruct patients not to engage in behavior that contributes to or exacerbates disease, like eating well, exercise and quitting smoking – but people often don’t comply then come in and want a pill that will fix the problem that they’ve created or made worse. What about providers who work in low-income communities, where the patients have less control over their environment or whose educational or intellectual levels aren’t adequate for them to fully understand the diagnosis and treatment instructions? And then there’s the mental health and emotional variable – such as hypochondriacs and those who go from provider to provider until someone tells them what they want to hear, which may not necessarily be the most sound medical or ethical advice? Trying to rate healthcare providers on outcomes and patient satisfaction is like trying to rate teachers on students’ test scores. There are too many variables that are beyond the professional’s control. I understand that in an ideal world we would have a way to measure quality of care, but patient satisfaction surveys are not a fair or reliable way to do so.